Chapter 16: Intervention
Agent Christopher put off her trip back home so that she could talk with Flynn further about Rittenhouse and the propositions they had made to him. Hesitant to speak in front of the rest of the group…whether for Lucy's sake or for the sake of his own privacy, no one really knew for sure…Flynn requested that he and Agent Christopher speak someplace privately. Opting for one of the storage rooms, Agent Christopher led Flynn away, leaving the rest of the group to sit and marvel at what had just been revealed.
Wyatt watched them go, still distrustful of the man who had attempted to kill them so many times. Rufus was soon at Wyatt's elbow, "Everyone's the hero of their own story, right?" he observed with a whisper.
Wyatt narrowed his eyes in thought, "If Rittenhouse really did try to recruit him, why didn't Flynn admit as much before?" he asked, "Why not just tell us?"
"Come on Wyatt," Rufus explained, "you know as well as I do, he would have never been allowed in this bunker if he had told us something like that. Hell, we didn't want him in this bunker, to begin with." Rufus shook his head, "He knew we wouldn't trust him as far as we could throw him if we knew that Rittenhouse was chatting him up."
Wyatt begrudgingly nodded in agreement. He had suspected as much from Flynn from the start. As he had told Lucy, desperate people do desperate things…and they all of them knew what Garcia Flynn was capable of. His desperation had turned him from humanitarian to mass-murderer; an international time traveling terrorist…and Rittenhouse, unsurprisingly saw the value of having someone like that on their side.
But maybe Flynn really did have his limits.
It's not like Wyatt didn't understand Flynn's rage. He did. Hell, he probably understood it better than anyone else in that bunker. To have someone you love brutally murdered? To live with the knowledge that their killer was never brought to justice?
Of course, he had Jessica back now…her murder had never taken place in this timeline…but Rittenhouse had apparently taken her under their wing and turned her from small town bartender to…whatever the hell she was now. Agent? Spy? Innocent victim? Hell if he knew anymore. Still, it didn't erase that fact that for six years he had been angry, he had wanted justice, he had wanted revenge…but he didn't let it change who he essentially was.
Not like Flynn.
Flynn had spent the better part of a year killing innocent people in his attempt to rid the world of this organization that had caused all of them so much grief over the past two years. Framed for the murders of his wife and child, Flynn had gone on the run. Unlike Wyatt who had his military service to distract him, Flynn was a man driven to desperation. Desperation not only to find justice for his wife and child, but desperation to clear his own name. He might have stayed on the run forever if it hadn't been for Lucy…
Wyatt turned back to look at her, sitting stoically at the table, wondering suddenly what had driven her to give him her journal. What finally caused her to write it? She had been through so much for almost two years, had lost her sister, her father…and her mother, really…but even after losing so much, she was still Lucy - kind, caring, forgiving, selfless, Lucy…so what made her turn Flynn loose on history and the world?
Wyatt swallowed hard considering that maybe…just maybe…they hadn't seen the worst of what Rittenhouse could do. It was hard to believe they could inflict much more pain on them, but almost as soon as that thought entered his mind, he checked himself…he knew full well things could always get worse. One look at Lucy and he remembered with a stab of panic that she was a target…Rittenhouse wanted to kill her…and he knew that if that happened it would completely destroy him.
Which brought him back to Flynn. When it came down to it, he was a just grieving father and husband who had been handed the means to bring their killers to justice…and well, Wyatt couldn't fault him for that. They both dealt with their grief in different ways; Flynn with his vigilante justice, Wyatt with his pursuit of duty and service. They had both been desperate…hell, hadn't they both stolen time machines to try to save the people they had loved and lost?
Shit.
Wyatt sighed heavily considering that perhaps he and Flynn weren't quite so different after all. He never believed that he would ever torch through history like a mad man as Flynn did, but now, knowing the lengths Rittenhouse would go to manipulate, coerce and reshape the past to suit their twisted agenda, he wasn't so sure. Looking at Lucy, he was less certain. Knowing that she was a target, knowing that she could very well be killed, murdered, assassinated for her non-compliance, Wyatt reflected on what he would do if that happened…if he had failed to protect her.
There was no question in his mind, as he watched her tuck her hair behind her ear and take a sip of her tea; he would move heaven and Earth to make them pay…and he wouldn't even think twice.
So what the hell did that make him? What did it make Flynn?
Sighing heavily, Wyatt eased his way over to Lucy, leaning back against the counter as he observed her quietly. "You okay?" he muttered after a long while.
Lucy gave an imperceptible nod of her head as she swallowed back the tears were now fighting their way to the surface. She had been sitting at the table wondering how her mother could be involved…no not involved…leading such an organization as Rittenhouse. The woman she thought she knew kept becoming more and more foreign to her as these missions wore on. She knew, of course, that Rittenhouse was horrible before this…but taking advantage of people in desperate circumstances? Feeding on their fears, their insecurities, their…hopeless circumstances…
Lucy leaned forward with moan as she realized that they had done the same thing to her…and to Wyatt. They may not have recruited them to do their bidding, but they played on their emotions just the same.
"Who recruited the sleeper?" she asked quietly.
"What?" Wyatt asked, confused and a little alarmed by her question.
"The sleeper, in 1981," she swallowed hard before she continued, "you said that Rittenhouse had offered him a way out…did he say who?" She sought out Wyatt's eyes, but he either would not or could not look at her. That was all the verification she needed. He didn't need to vocalize it; she knew by the sorrowful expression he wore he was trying to protect her from any further pain.
Lucy nodded her head in silent understanding, "My mother." She sighed heavily, "I'd like to say I'm surprised…but I'm not anymore." Letting out a derisive laugh she continued, "You know, my mother…she used to tell me that history wasn't about the dates." Lucy threw her head back haughtily and imitated her mother, 'History,' she always said, 'is an epic saga that we are still writing.'" Lucy scoffed, "I thought she was so clever…I never would have dreamed that she actually meant rewriting."
A flash of anger appeared in Lucy's eyes, a darkness that Wyatt had begun seeing once they got back from 1918. It was subdued, barely there…but the fact that it was there at all was enough to make his blood boil. She was too good to deserve any of this…and yet she bore it all with a grace that left Wyatt nearly speechless.
"I used to think that history was set in stone," she murmured quietly, "unchangeable, immoveable…each event leading to the next…something that could never be erased. But then Amy disappeared…and now with Jessica…and with this…this mission to stop Agent Christopher…" she gasped as silent tears streamed down her face, "I see just how fragile it all is." She looked at Wyatt desperately, "They're never going to stop, are they? They're going to keep rewriting history until…"
Wyatt lunged forward and took the seat next to her, wrapping her up in a one-armed embrace as she leaned sideways onto his shoulder. "We'll find a way to stop them, Lucy." He murmured into her hair as Rufus and Jiya nodded their support. "We're not let going to let them win."
"When we started this, you told me to figure out what I was fighting for…and that was Amy. I was fighting for Amy. To get her back" Lucy shook her head despondently, "But that's never going to happen, is it?"
There was no quaver or sadness in her voice. Lucy asked the question as if she already knew the answer…had prepared herself a long time ago for seemingly inevitable impossibility of saving her sister. A deathly silence fell over the room for a few moments, no one quite knowing how to respond or how best assure Lucy that they would somehow find a way. It was one thing to talk about stopping Rittenhouse, but undoing whatever the hell they had done to ensure her sister's continued non-existence? It seemed an impossible puzzle that no one, not even Emma could solve…even though she was the one that had deepened the mystery of Amy's disappearance. That grim reality seemed to settle itself over the bunker inhabitant like a dark cloud when Flynn's quiet voice broke through the somberness of the moment, "Only if you give up hope."
The eyes of everyone in the bunker were turned on Flynn who had apparently emerged from his meeting with Agent Christopher; no one had seen nor heard him approach. How long he had been standing there listening to their conversation, no one knew, but the small smile of reassurance he offered Lucy and the gentleness of his voice had everyone, including Lucy, gaping at him in awe. Nodding solemnly, he stood from his perch on the arm of the couch and excused himself as he retreated to his bedroom.
Gaping after him, Rufus exclaimed, "Did Flynn seem a bit…normal to you?" He looked around the table at the others as he explained, "And I'm not talking Flynn normal…I'm talking you and I normal…regular, everyday people normal."
'We are not regular, everyday people, Rufus" Jiya laughed as she moved from the table, "We live underground in a secret bunker and travel through time."
"Okay…fine not regular, everyday people…just…people, in general."
Lucy rolled her eyes, "Come on, Rufus." she said with a slight laugh, "He's not that bad."
"You may have a short-term memory where he is concerned," Rufus argued, "but to me, he'll always be the jackass who had Al Capone shoot me."
"Well, he actually shot me." Wyatt muttered, "but you don't hear me complaining about it every five minutes.
"That was no picnic for me either." Rufus reminded him, "But you of all people, Wyatt, know what I mean…Flynn is…." he lowered his voice to a hissing a whisper, "a freaking psycho…not the one for sage advice…that's…that's you." he said pointing to Lucy.
"Are you saying I'm rubbing off on him?" she asked with a wry smile.
Wyatt shrugged, "Possibly." He smirked at her, "You're very persuasive…ma'am."
She smiled at Wyatt as he pressed a kiss to her temple while Rufus slapped both of his hands on the table as he pushed himself up to stand, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I could use a little distraction. How about a movie?"
Grateful for anything to get her mind off of her mother and Rittenhouse…and thinking that Wyatt would probably like a reprieve from his own depressing revelations about Jessica, Lucy readily agreed…until Rufus attempted to queue up Weapon of Choice.
"No, Rufus." she gritted out firmly, "Anything but that."
"Oh come on, Lucy, lighten up." Rufus countered, "It will remind us of happier times, when Flynn was our biggest problem."
Lucy turned to Wyatt for support, but rolled her eyes, remembering as he flashed Rufus an impish grin, "Never mind" she muttered, "I forgot, you like this movie."
"That's not entirely true." Wyatt said as he tucked Lucy close to him, "I used to hate this movie."
"You? Hate a James Bond movie?" Lucy scoffed in disbelief, "I don't believe it. You were practically skipping when you found out about this…this…thing." Lucy spat out as she pointed roughly to the television screen.
"Oh, believe it, Lucy." Rufus quipped as he took his place beside Jiya. "He might have been fanboying over Ian Fleming at first, but dude looked like he was about to beat the shit out of him when he saw him holding your hand in that Nazi castle."
Lucy turned to Wyatt with piqued interest, 'Oh really? And how did you know he was holding my hand? Were you spying on me?"
"No." Wyatt answered truthfully as he roughly threw a pillow at Rufus, "I was keeping an eye on the situation inside…doing my job…which, I might add, saved your asses when Flynn sold you out to the Nazis."
Lucy nodded thoughtfully, "So you hated this movie because…"
"Because James Bond bangs you." Rufus answered for him as he stuffed his mouth full of popcorn.
Wyatt flushed and rolled his eyes as Lucy raised her eyebrows at him, "Well, isn't that a coincidence? It's why I hate this movie too. That, and the fact that he made me out to be some…some…."
"Dumb secretary?" Rufus offered.
"The priest holes were my idea!" Lucy argued. "We would have been killed in there if it hadn't been for me."
"But you get to be a Bond girl." Wyatt said with a smirk.
"Please don't tell me that's why you like this movie now." Lucy said in exasperation.
"No." Wyatt said with shake of his head, "It's like Rufus said…it's got all of us in it…and now…well, I figure…let Ian Fleming have his cheap ass imitation Lucy Preston. I've got the real deal…which is much better."
"Kiss up" coughed Rufus before adding glibly, "In other words Lucy, he's cool with it now because he's dating an actual Bond girl."
Lucy rolled her eyes as she curled up next to Wyatt on the couch, already feeling much better than she had just minutes before. Though it made her more than a little uncomfortable to see her big-breasted counterpart tumbling into bed with James Bond, Lucy felt very much the same as Wyatt did in regards to the movie. She hated the way she had been turned into some sexed up, dumbed down stereotype, but…she noted, Wyatt and Rufus hadn't come off much better either. Their roles had been downplayed significantly. While they both worked together to diffuse the bomb, there was no last-minute rescue in the (now) secret Soviet base in Eastern Germany. Wyatt and Rufus were mere sidekicks, who bumbled their way through the mission, nearly getting them all killed, while James Bond single handedly fought off a host of soldiers to get them all to safety…via the priest holes.
As much as it annoyed Lucy that Ian Fleming had effectively rewritten history, sitting there with Wyatt and Rufus watching it all play out, she couldn't help but laugh now at the changes he had made in order to make himself look like the ultimate hero.
Will you be waiting?
As the credits began to roll with a close up of 007 and her Hollywood counterpart locked in a passionate embrace, Lucy yelled at the television screen tossing a piece of popcorn at Sean Connery's face. "Definitely NOT!"
"You tell him, Lucy." Rufus nodded as Wyatt chuckled in her hair.
"Can you believe that man?" she said with a shake of her head. "I mean, honestly..."
"You shot down Ian Fleming, Lucy. You think he was going to be an honorable man and protect your virtue?" Rufus shook his head as he cleared away the popcorn bowls and made his way into the kitchen, "Think again…"
"Yes, well…I don't know why he had to make me a love interest at all. It's not like there was any time for romance anyway…"
"I wouldn't say that." Wyatt said a bit defensively as she sat up and looked at him in surprise, "It's just that I thought…well, I mean…we weren't together or anything but…there was a moment…well, you know…"
Lucy couldn't help but let out a small laugh; seeing Wyatt stammer uncomfortably through an admittance that he had felt a little more for her than he was willing to admit at the time was not only amusing…it was endearing. "You're right." she murmured as she pressed a small kiss to his lips, "there was a moment...or two."
"Two, huh?" Wyatt said as he lifted his eyebrows in surprise.
"Well, yeah…you got me over the hump," Lucy explained before adding with a slight shrug, "and you trusted me. Trusted me over THE Ian Fleming, I might add." He offered her a soft smile that made her oh so grateful she was already sitting on the couch. "I may have started harboring a little bit of a crush on you after that mission." she admitted with a soft smile of her own.
"Careful ma'am" Wyatt said with an impish grin, "you're getting awfully close to breaking a few of your own ground rules."
"Ground rules?" Rufus asked as he stood over them, glasses in hand, looking at the two of them in confusion. "What are you talking about…ground rules?"
Lucy flushed, wishing that Rufus hadn't overheard, "It's just that we have certain…"
"Here we go…" Jiya said with a knowing grin as she took the glasses from Rufus' hand and made her way back to the kitchen.
"I mean," Lucy said firmly, "that Wyatt is still married…and so…we need to show some…you know, some restraint."
Jiya and Rufus exchanged looks before Rufus nodded his head, "That's very noble of you, Lucy…but um…"
"I told you." Jiya sighed as she turned from the kitchen and made her way across to the common room sofa, "this is the Wyatt and Lucy I know."
"Uh-huh." Rufus said as he looked at Wyatt. "And you're fine with this?"
Wyatt cast a sideways look towards Lucy and shrugged, "Well…I mean…" At Lucy's meaningfully expression, Wyatt quickly switched gears, "Look, it's fine. We're still together…and it's the right thing to do…by Lucy and by Jessica." Looking very uncomfortable, Wyatt pressed a kiss to Lucy's temple and leapt up from the couch, "I'm gonna go take a shower." He cleared his throat as he made his way down the hall, "A cold one."
As Wyatt practically ran from the room to avoid any more awkward conversation, Rufus rounded on Lucy, "You're making that man take cold showers?"
"We live in a bunker, Rufus." Lucy said with a roll of her eyes, "All of the showers are cold."
She got up with a huff and made her way to the sink to wash out her mug as Rufus trailed along behind her, "I meant that figuratively…is that right? Or is it literally? No, figuratively…." Lucy was just about to get annoyed by Rufus' rambling when he pressed on, "The point is we just got off of a mission where Agent Christopher nearly lost her whole family. Everything we have could be taken away from us…" Rufus snapped his fingers dramatically. "Just like that."
"I know, Rufus" Lucy hissed out in exasperation, "believe me…I think I understand that better than anyone." She sighed, "Whatever Jessica is in this timeline…she's still his wife…and I'm just…"
"You're just the woman he's head over heels in love with." Rufus finished for her.
Lucy stared back at him in frustration, "Look, it's not like this is easy for me either. I can't help that Rittenhouse brought Jessica back…"
"And neither can Wyatt." Rufus reminded her. "In his reality, she's been dead for six years…he's moved on. With you."
Lucy stilled as she dried her mug, but before she could argue with Rufus further, Jiya quickly jumped to her defense, "I think she's being very respectful and responsible…which is more than what I can say for you, Rufus." she said pointedly.
"Me? What did I do?"
Jiya shook her head at him as she pulled him away, "C'mon Rufus, leave Lucy and Wyatt alone. This doesn't concern you."
As she tugged him away, Lucy reflected on what Rufus had said. She knew everything…their relationships, their memories, their very lives all hung in the balance as long as Rittenhouse had that time machine…that "paint brush" as Nicholas had called it. Unchecked, they could pluck out people and events from the fabric of time…weaving in a new thread, to replace what once was with a new reality handcrafted by them. She knew all too well how one small change could essentially turn her world upside down. All it would take was the right event, changed at the right time, to destroy the reality she knew.
It was…all so fragile.
And what was she doing? Keeping Wyatt at an arm's distance, punishing them both because of something Rittenhouse had done to drive them apart. It wasn't fair…to either of them. She was so concerned with trying to do the right thing, she didn't consider how maybe she was falling into a trap…doing exactly what Rittenhouse…her mother…expected her to do. Taking the noble, high road, instead of clinging to the only person in her life whom she could fully depend on. Feeling tremendously silly, Lucy shook her head and made her way down the hall, hoping to talk to Wyatt before he retreated to the confines of his shared room with Rufus.
To her great dismay, however, she did not meet Wyatt in the hall, nor was he in the bathroom. Knowing there would be no way she could stomach the smugness that was sure to come from that chocodile loving pilot if she knocked on their door, Lucy decided that she would just talk to Wyatt in the morning. Heaving a sigh, Lucy turned and made her way down the corridor to her own room, until she was met at her door by Rufus himself, "Oh hey, Lucy." he said with an attempt at nonchalance, "What's going on?"
Lucy tilted her head at him sardonically, "I might ask you the same thing. What are you doing in my room, Rufus?"
"Technically, I'm not in your room…I'm outside of it…also, it's not just your room." Rufus said to her pointedly, "Jiya sleeps here too…"
"Yes, she does" Lucy said as she attempted to brush past him but Rufus blocked her way, making sure to keep his hand on the door knob so that it could not be opened from the outside…or the inside.
"I'm uh...gonna be staying in here tonight" Rufus explained, "with Jiya…because she's my girlfriend…and not ya know…because of anything else."
Lucy quirked her eyebrow at him before bristling in annoyance, "Does Jiya know about this?"
"That she's my girlfriend? Or the…the other part?"
"You know what I mean, Rufus." Lucy said as she once more attempted to move past him. As Rufus shifted himself in front of her, she shook her head at him in disbelief, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Not even missing a beat, Rufus blocked the door to her bedroom and admitted freely, "Yes, I am. I think it's just…no, Jiya," Rufus called over his shoulder to the muffled sounds of Jiya's protests, "I'm doing this for her own good," before turning back to Lucy and saying softly, "look, I know you want to do the right thing…but you and Wyatt are about the rightest thing I've ever seen."
Lucy offered him a wry smile, "So, you're not giving me any choice…"
"Nope." Rufus said glibly as he opened the bedroom door, backed away and slammed it on her face.
"Um…could I at least get a change of clothes?" she called through the door.
"Goodnight Lucy!" was the muffled response.
Lucy threw back her head in exasperation. She knew that coming to Wyatt's room in the dead of night after laying out an entire argument of ground rules and why they were a good idea would require a considerable amount of pride swallowing on her part. She also knew that Wyatt wouldn't mind in the slightest, though he might delight in giving her a hard time about all of the admonitions she put him through since the night he had come back to the bunker. With that in mind, Lucy tentatively lifted her hand and quietly knocked on his door, feeling simultaneously thrilled and nervous at the prospect of being back where she belonged. She could hear the patter of his feet against the cold floor as he made his way across the room, her heart stupidly pounding nervously in her chest as she waited for him to appear before her.
Cracking the door open, Wyatt peered out into the hall in confusion. Once his eyes fell on her, however, his confusion gave way to amusement as he offered her a wicked grin, "Can I help you, ma'am?"
Lucy flushed slightly as she cast her eyes down to the floor, "Um…Rufus has…" she cleared her throat, deciding to just bite the bullet herself, "I need a place to sleep tonight." she mumbled quietly.
Wyatt narrowed his eyes and quirked his lip, "I'm sorry…what was that? I couldn't quite hear…"
Heaving an exasperated sigh, Lucy lifted her eyes and admitted clearly, "I need a place to sleep tonight…it seems Rufus decided to conveniently bunk with Jiya."
Wyatt's eyes widened in mock offense as he drew his arms across his chest, modestly. "Lucy," he said seriously, "that would be a violation of Ground Rule #2…separate bedrooms."
Lucy rolled her eyes in frustration. She was right…Wyatt was going to make this difficult…well, two could play at that game. "You're absolutely right." she agreed with a nod before offering up an exaggerated shrug, "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to bunk with Flynn then."
She turned on her heel to make her way back down the hall when she heard the door creak open behind her. "Well, let's not be too hasty…" Wyatt's voice came from behind her. Lucy bit back her smile as she turned to face him, a serious expression now planted firmly on her face as he made his way towards her, "there are two beds after all."
Lucy nodded as she made a step towards him, "That's true."
He tucked her hair behind her ear and grazed his fingers against her cheek causing the last bit of her self-restraint to flutter away as he smirked at her, "Though I have to admit," he said softly, "I will have a hell of a time sleeping in the same room with you…"
"So, you're saying this would be a punishment?" Lucy asked as she snaked her arms around his waist.
"Torture." Wyatt admitted as he ghosted a kiss over her lips.
"Well, we can't have that…" Lucy murmured with a quirked brow, her mouth curling upwards into a wry smile.
"No ma'am, we can't."
Lucy captured Wyatt's lips with her own in a slow, passionate kiss, her tongue teasing his lower lip as her fingers tickled the nape of his neck in a way that she knew drove him absolutely crazy. Pushing back from him slightly, she couldn't help but smile at the look of utter wantonness on his face as he leaned in for another kiss. Lucy, however, pressed a hand against his chest and sighed, "Alright, Flynn's room it is." A teasing smile played across her lips as she quickly turned in his arms and made to step away from him. A low growl from Wyatt followed by a squeal of laughter from Lucy echoed down the hall as he grabbed her around the waist, lifted her off the ground, and hauled her into the bedroom. Twirling her around, he pressed her against the wall, kissing her as he fumbled to close the door behind them. Giggling as his hand repeatedly slipped from off the door frame, Lucy broke the kiss, slid out of his arms and shut it herself, turning back to face him with a flirtatious grin. "That was a little more than a goodnight kiss, Wyatt." she accused teasingly.
Wyatt lifted his eyebrows at her playfully, "You're not the only one who can break a few rules, ma'am."
She bit her lip as she stepped towards him tentatively, "Want to break a few more?"
"Lucy Preston," Wyatt said in a voice of mock astonishment, "are you trying to seduce me?"
She shrugged her shoulders as she offered him a sheepish smile, "Maybe…but of course, if you have a problem with it…" Wyatt lunged for her, crashing his lips against hers in a desperate kiss before Lucy pulled away with a gasp, "I take that as a "no?"
"Hell no." Wyatt emphasized as he hauled her into his arms again, kissing every part of her he could reach. Turning, he made his way back to his tiny cot before murmuring against her lips impishly, "We're gonna have to redecorate again."
"Mmmmhhmmm," Lucy hummed in agreement as she pulled him into the cot with her, "but not tonight."
Carol Preston sat at her mahogany desk, the gleam from the richly polished wood reflecting her worried features as she drummed her fingers nervously against its surface. Her brow was furrowed in concern as she watched her grandfather pacing in agitation on the far side of the room.
"I should have never trusted you." Nicholas spat out as he shot an angry glare towards Carol, "she's your daughter…obviously, your judgement in regards to this situation is clouded."
"She's your great-granddaughter…and the last of a noble bloodline." she reminded him, "She deserved a chance…a chance to come to her senses. We both agreed."
"And yet here we are discussing another failed mission." He rounded on her angrily, "you told me it was fool-proof. You told me that even if the sleeper failed to kill her, it would cause enough upset to force her away from a life of law enforcement. That's what you said."
Carol closed her eyes and breathed deeply, "Given her history, her family's background…it was a reasonable expectation." She shrugged in bewilderment, "I must have misjudged the situation. I take full responsibility for that."
"And Lucy?" Nicholas asked, "or are you still making excuses for her?"
"I regret not telling Lucy about Rittenhouse sooner." Carol admitted quietly, "If I had just had the courage to raise her truthfully…she would have known and accepted her role early on…I'm sure of it." She looked at Nicholas, pleading for understanding, "There's still so much she doesn't know…about her family, about her father…about what Rittenhouse can offer her."
Nicholas shook his head, "Carol…she is no longer an asset to us. The longer she lives, the more missions she disrupts, she becomes a more and more of a liability. We cannot afford any more mistakes where she is concerned."
"Where who is concerned?" came Emma's drawling voice as she entered the office, Jessica trailing behind.
"Ah, Emma, Jessica…" Nicholas said with a grin, "so glad you could join us." He offered both Jessica and Emma chairs with a flourish of his hand and nodded to Carol, "We were just discussing what should be done with Lucy."
Emma scoffed, "That makes two of us. You gonna let me kill her now?"
"I don't think that will be necessary." Carol said with a roll of her eyes. "Lucy is stubborn, but she's also my daughter. Rittenhouse is about family. Legacy." She turned to Nicholas, "Need I remind you that she helped save you in 1918?" Nicholas shook his head at Carol, but she pressed on, "The same blood that flows through your veins, flows through hers. You might want to consider that before you decide to sign off on her execution. Besides," she added with a nod to Jessica, "we've already dealt with one of our biggest obstacles to her return."
"Actually…we haven't" Jessica's small voice chimed in as she nervously twisted her fingers in her lap. "He signed the divorce papers."
"He what?" Carol asked in astonishment.
"I tried everything to get him to break. I played on his guilt with his father, the breakdown of our marriage…begged him to be honest with me," a flash of anger appeared in her eyes as she muttered, "but he wouldn't betray them…wouldn't betray her."
"You told me this was our safety net." Nicholas whispered dangerously. "That no matter what happened, Jessica would be the wedge that would tear that team apart."
"Did he at least give you a location? An idea of where they've been hiding these past five months?" Carol asked, ignoring Nicholas' outburst.
"No ma'am." Jessica answered with a shake of her head, "it's not like I didn't try. I thought I had him with that state secret bit."
"You're sure there's no way to get him to change his mind?" Carol asked.
"I could fake a pregnancy" Jessica said with a shrug, "Wyatt's kind of a sucker for responsibility and duty…but that might be hard to pull off since I told him I believed he was dead these past five months."
"This is a problem" Nicholas spat out. "As long as she feels safe where she is…as long as she can trust those…those people she's with, she's never going to see the value in the work we do here."
"She will." Carol insisted, "Just give her ti…"
"Time?" Nicholas asked incredulously, "I've given her plenty of time…she's had plenty of chances." He shook his head, "She will get one more, but this time there will be no room for failure. This time," he said with a determined nod of his head, "I'm going to take care of the problem myself."
