"Hey Luce," Wyatt said, slumping onto the couch. Rufus and Jiya were tangled up on the other side, leaving Lucy room to stretch out.
"Hey." She smiles, beaming. Jiya noticed her switch in mood and rolled her eyes with a wink. It was obvious they cared about each other in a more than friendly way and quite honestly probably loved each other. Now distracted from whatever rerun was playing, Lucy asked, "Need anything?"
"Ok, so, I know this is ridiculous and I don't know who else to ask but I have this military banquet thing and I need a date. And it's not like I'm taking Jiya here." Wyatt laughs, "You don't have to go, it's stupid and it's not like I haven't gone to these things for the last five years without one." It's a self-deprecating chuckle now.
"Wyatt, get over yourself; of course I'll go with you! When is it?" Lucy gives him a playful shove,
"Uh, tomorrow." Wyatt doesn't look her in the eye.
"Wyatt Logan! You are parading me in front of all your military buddies at what is probably a pretty formal occasion and it's tomorrow?!" Lucy practically screeches.
Rufus and Jiya are trying not to laugh…and they're failing miserably.
"Agent Christopher got us clearance for the weekend. These things tend to go until all hours so they'll put us up."
"Well, I'm sure I could go back to my old apartment, see what gems I might have hidden there because I haven't worn a dress outside of time travel in a long time." Lucy, being the organizer that she is, ponders the thought.
"I have stuff and I'm sure we can go pilfer the closet here. There's gotta be something worthwhile."
Two and a half hours into their search, Lucy was about to give up. Tired of flipping through clothes that were era-inappropriate and didn't fit, she let out a long sigh.
"We'll find something! And if not, you got ahead for more missions." Jiya reassures.
"Just nothing's good enough! There's literally more clothes than I can fathom and there's not a single thing worthy of a military banquet?" Lucy's exasperated.
Jiya comes around from the other rack. "Is nothing good enough for him or you? Because I know his jaw would hit the floor to see you in any of these. Most of your missions are pretty stuffy anyway." Jiya smiles and gives an infamous smirk.
Lucy brushes off her comment but subconsciously processes it as she continues to look for dresses.
"What about this?" Jiya holds up a white, flowing, floor length dress from the early 40s. It was reminiscent of Katherine Hepburn's in The Philadelphia Story.
"Beautiful but too iconic; everyone would know." Lucy dismisses but then smiles, "Maybe the next time we go to the forties I'll wear it."
Another rack is sorted through with no luck.
Agent Christopher walks in. "Wyatt told me you'd be in here. How's the search?"
"It's not. We've gone through forty years of dresses…and nada." Lucy tells the superior who'd become like a second mother.
"I'm sure there's something in here." Denise starts to flip through the rack nearest to her. "What about this?" She holds up a simple, black, form-fitting dress with spaghetti straps and a curvy ruffle of fabric across the chest.
"Only you." Lucy laughs, "Only you."
"Of course the first thing you pick up would be the thing we've spent the last two hours trying to find." Jiya adds, "I'm sure black pumps would work with that."
"Thanks guys." Lucy says sincerely, she would've freaked if she had been stuck in a sundress or a blouse and skirt like she was going to teach a class at Stanford. "Hair and makeup?" She leaves her sentence open-ended, awaiting suggestions.
"You could do a smokey eye and then flat-iron your hair, put a slight wave in it and slick it back in a nice clip or something in the back. Not with gel but I'm sure a crap ton of hairspray will go into keeping it in place." Jiya laughs,
"Good idea, Jiya. But honestly, no matter what you wear, Wyatt will have the prettiest lady in the room on his arm." Agent Christopher was the equivalent to a grammatically correct Yoda and just so happened to be a Homeland Security agent. She really was the Bunker Mama.
"Oh my Gosh!" Jiya squeals, "You look so pretty! Thank you Agent Christopher!" Now it's only hours before she and Wyatt had to disappear for his banquet.
"The last time I looked this good was on a date with some guy whose name I don't even remember. It was before I even found out about Mason and you guys. God, that feels like a lifetime ago." Lucy reminisces, standing up from the vanity chair, giving herself a whirl.
After much planning, the duo had decided to go with their original idea; smokey eye, reddish-pink lips and had re-done her hair several times. They had to get her hair to stay in the turtle-shell clip perfectly! Lucy also stole a pair of Jiya's black satin pumps with the heels decorated in rhinestones.
"Let's go show you off!" Jiya squealed again. She had a habit of doing that when she was excited. Lucy gave herself another once over, slipped on her shoes and headed for the door.
In the mezzanine landing, talking to Rufus and Agent Christopher, was Wyatt. And Good Lord above did he look handsome! Lucy had never seen him in uniform before. He was all in white, save for black and gold decorations that all held a meaning Lucy was sure she probably wouldn't ever understand. With his Army cap in hand, he turned on his heel when he heard the door open.
And, of course, Jiya was right; Wyatt's jaw practically hit the floor. Rufus leaned over and whispered something but she didn't catch it. "Lucy…" Wyatt was speechless and she blushed. "You look amazing."
"Well, you don't look so bad yourself, Master Sergeant." Lucy returned his compliment and hoped their friends wouldn't turn this into anything weird. Rufus said there was literally a bunker wager on when they would finally get together. Lucy secretly hoped it was soon.
Rufus and Jiya slightly pushed the two of them forward, out of line so to speak, while Agent Christopher watched it all with a reserved smirk. Lucy knew she wasn't stupid and probably knew every word that was spoken in the bunker.
"The car's waiting. You two should go. See you tomorrow." Agent Christopher breaks up the snickers from Rufus and Jiya and the loaded looks from the dressed up duo.
"Ma'am?" Wyatt held out his arm like a proper gentleman. She melted at their inside joke and immediately thought back to the beginning of their relationship when she insisted he stop calling her ma'am-now something she loved-"Special Forces," he said, "they teach you to be polite."
Ushered quickly into a limo-they still didn't know exactly where they were-and took every back road possible until they hit what looked like a familiar highway.
The ride was quiet and slightly awkward due to the Homeland Security agent sitting across from them. It strangely reminded Lucy of their Bonnie and Clyde expedition. It's then she realized that at some point, Wyatt's hand had found hers and didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon. Not that she minded, of course.
A few more minutes of stilted silence, they rolled up to the Fort Pendleton gate.
After a series of check-ins, a woman in a starched pantsuit and heels led Wyatt to the venue where his banquet was being held.
They were actually announced like in a fancy ballroom party. Well, in all fairness, they were at a party of sorts and it was in a ballroom.
Hours later and many, many speeches later, the dance floor was opened. It was an amusing sight to see so many uniforms let loose a little.
"Let's dance." Lucy coaxed, extending her hand. The dance floor wasn't completely barren but many of the banquet's participants were still seated, engrossed in whatever conversation they were having.
A slow song was playing and they swayed to its melody. It was a sweet moment that Wyatt was thoroughly enjoying.
"So what'd you think?" Wyatt asks, his voice both husky and soft as he whispered in her ear.
"This makes it better. Dressing up, however stressful, was fun." Lucy noticed her voice taking on a dream-like quality.
"Happy to be of service, ma'am." Wyatt responded, flirting just a little bit.
Lucy smiled against his neck and shoulders as she leaned into him even more during the dance. It wasn't much more than two people holding each other and taking in each other's presence and comfort. She could've come up with some quick quip or clever thought but she didn't want to be time-traveling historian Dr. Lucy Preston right now. She was perfectly content to be just Lucy in his arms.
It was during the dance she realized how late it actually was. Finding a military clock on the wall she deduced it was almost 1am. "You weren't kidding when you said these things last all hours."
"Yeah, I wasn't," Wyatt laughs, "I can go find out where they're putting us. I think they're letting us crash in empty bunks.
"That would be good. My feet are killing me." Lucy smiled as they went to separate. But it was then that their closeness dawned on them. One slight move forward and it would be game over.
More like, start game, Lucy decided and closed the gap. This wasn't like Bonnie and Clyde, it was real feelings in real time. Not something doctored for history.
Although in front of at least a hundred other men and women in uniforms, Lucy felt like she was the only one in the room as his lips touched hers and their arms tried to push each other a little closer.
Finally parting, Wyatt pushed the envelope a little more, "I'm going find our room." It was going to be a standard, simple room with a bed, dresser and bathroom. And not much else.
Wyatt found 11B quite quickly. He led her as she walked behind him, hand in hers with a goofy smiling and laughing combination plastered on her porcelain face.
He burst open the door and saw the simple, plain items he remembered from his endless days spent here. But the one thing he didn't notice was a second bed.
Wyatt groaned, rubbing a hand over his face as he turned to Lucy. "I'm so sorry! When I RSVP'd I must've not checked plus-one. They set us up based on if we were bringing someone." He was slightly blushing but it didn't bother Lucy. After all, she had only found out about this the night before.
"No, it's fine. I guess I should've expected it. We can just share. Or we can see if there's another room, if-if-if you want." Now Lucy was getting nervous. He made her nervous sometimes. But a good nervous. And it was teetering that fine line as they stood in front of a twin bed.
"Um, it's ok. It's late, everyone's probably already settled. We should just sleep." Wyatt brushing off the fact he even brought it up to begin with.
Wyatt took off his uniform jacket, hanging it up perfectly in the wardrobe. It left him in a white collared undershirt.
Lucy set down the shoes in her hand and realized she hadn't had the wherewithal to bring an extra set of clothes.
They both looked up in a sort of shock when her thoughts had become clear.
"Oh, um, go see Baker and Reagan in 9B, maybe she has something. You remember who she was right?" Wyatt prompted.
"Oh, yeah, she seemed nice." Lucy had not accounted for all the awkwardness she'd encountered during the evening. But Baker had seemed like she saw her fair share of awkwardness. She had been one of Wyatt's best friends during his time with Delta Force, which Lucy found a little surprising as she'd never heard her name come up. But then again, he didn't talk about his service all that often.
Lucy left the room and found 9B a few doors down. She knocked and a relaxed Baker opened the door. "I'm really sorry to do this to you but Wyatt said you might have a spare change of clothes or something. I wore a dress yet didn't think to pack anything else."
"Oh, no, you're fine! Come in, it was nice to meet some of Wyatt's friends."
"Amanda! Who's at the door?" Lucy hears as she steps inside.
"Wyatt's date!" The petite blonde hollered, "Sorry, Jamie's in the shower, he wasn't really expecting anyone." She said, rummaging through a small grey duffel bag sitting on the bed.
"Again, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to intrude." Lucy apologizes once more,
"You're fine! And I've been to so many of these things before. You learn what you need and whatcha don't. Being the personal assistant to the police commissioner does that too." Amanda chuckles, holding up a forest green shirt emblazoned with the word 'Army' in sandy, blocky letters. "This should work. I know it's a little big, I actually think it used to be Jamie's."
"Oh, that's not a big deal. And thanks again, I'll give it back tomorrow." Lucy takes the shirt and goes to leave.
Amanda stops her, "You don't really have to. It's an old shirt. And are you and Wyatt a thing? Because if you are, keep him. He's one of the good ones."
Lucy smiles at her comment, "I know." Amanda gives her a knowing look and lets Lucy start for the door.
They fell asleep quite easily with each other in their arms. Lucy thought it was going to be weird and the comfort she would find in it would dissipate.
It didn't.
Lucy wakes up first and turns in Wyatt's arms and looks contently at him sleeping. It's a sweet sight. Very rarely does she see him without a care in the world.
She runs a hand across his cheek and swipes away the stray hair across his eyes. He stirs awake and smiles at the sight of Lucy in his arms.
"Last night; we gotta talk about last night." Lucy starts, already, the pressures of the day were weighing on her.
"No, no, we don't. Not right now, later. You kissed me, I kissed you and I hope in the future it will continue, ok?" Wyatt has a laugh in his voice toward the end of his lighthearted statement.
He leans closer as Lucy starts to antagonize him playfully, "Oh yeah, huh? Huh? Huh?" She chuckles, leaning closer with every word and they meet once more. They hadn't kissed since last night out of a new sort of nervousness they hadn't experienced in a long time.
This kiss was sweeter than its predecessor. It was unhurried but passionate and exactly what it needed to be.
Then the door opened.
"Oh!" It was Rufus. What was Rufus doing here? They broke apart. "I was looking for you two. The uh, car is um, uh, yeah. And-and-and this is me leav-leaving." Rufus stumbles out his words, giving Wyatt and I stilted looks. She found his shyness cute.
"Busted." Lucy sighed knowingly,
"Nah, he'll be cool. I think his head went a little farther than necessary." Wyatt's tone was slightly suggestive and Lucy blushed at the thought, letting out a bashful giggle.
Lucy changed when she was around him. Not in a bad way-she was who she truly was at her core around him. No fronts, no facades, no masks.
They kissed for a while longer, almost as if they were trying to make up for lost time. And twenty minutes later decided it was time to let their fairytale end or at least hit pause.
Walking down the hall, they passed 9B and Lucy knocked, her dress from the night before on and shirt in hand.
Jamie answered this time. He was a rookie cop with blonde hair like Baker and she could see him being a country boy if plopped somewhere else in time.
"Hey, sorry for all the craziness last night. Here's your shirt back. I would've washed it but I'm probably not going to see you for another year so…" Lucy went to hand it to him and he stopped her.
"It's fine, you keep it. I've got another five just like it. Seems to have served you well." Jamie chuckles,
"Jamie Reagan!" I hear Baker gasp from somewhere else in the room, reminiscent of last night.
"Bye Amanda! Bye Jamie, we need to stay in touch!" Wyatt was waiting for her at the end of the hallway.
"I signed us out, Rufus is waiting. And this is going to be a very awkward car ride."
"You got that right! And nothing else happened so…" Lucy shrugged her shoulders and prepared to re-enter the real world.
As predicted, Rufus had many thoughts and opinions-many of which were thoroughly squashed.
We made it home and as Jiya helped return the dress in the proper place, she wanted to know all the details. Lucy expected nothing less.
"I kissed him. A lot." Lucy was being coy and knew it would drive Jiya crazy. "Nothing else happened but then I had to go ask his friend and her husband or whoever for a t-shirt because we didn't pack a change of clothes. And then we fell asleep on a twin bed and Rufus found us waking up and got an eyeful and of course his mind went sideways."
Jiya smiled, "Ha! I knew it! It knew it was going to happen last night! Mason owes me ten bucks."
Lucy looked almost shocked, "Rufus was for real?! There really was a bet?" She had a fake-hurt expression and was playing it nicely.
"Oh, whatever. And why are you in here talking to me when someone much more appealing is outside the door." Jiya flipped the conversation, which Lucy had realized she was actually quite good at.
"I mean, I don't know. We're technically coworkers, it was one night, a spur of the moment thing. I'm not even sure he feels the same way." Lucy's insecurities were weaving their way in,
Jiya sighed, "Ok, wow, I'm really going to have to spell it out for you." Lucy gave her a look she couldn't identify and continued on anyway, "I see how the two of you are. You'd think no one watches but that's the thing, everyone does. You guys, you guys," Jiya searches for the right words, "you guys love each other so much it makes those around you happy. I mean, you haven't come out and said it and sure, there have been ups and downs but don't think that for one second you aren't that boy's entire world." Lucy softened up, "Ok, do you know why the one tile under the mirror in the bathroom is cracked?"
"Uh, 'cause this place is a thousand years old and falling apart?" Lucy replied, stating the obvious.
"Well, yeah, but when Rittenhouse held you hostage, Wyatt was going nuts, he was so infuriated that he couldn't protect you, I saw him punch the tile because he hadn't put the chair in front of the door." Jiya explains and Lucy softens even more,
"Oh my Gosh." Lucy gasps, putting a few fingers to her lips, reminding herself of the night prior. "Thanks, Jiya. And you're right, there is someone more appealing on the other side of the door. Catch up with you later."
"Wyatt!" Lucy calls out, exiting the closet. She catches his attention and he turns to her. The way he's looking at her with that purely Wyatt smirk and is making Lucy lose the words she so desperately wants to say. "I really need to talk to you. Earlier we couldn't but what are we going to do about Agent Christopher? Mason found out from Jiya and she's the only one who doesn't know. I don't want other people's opinions in our relationship. I want this for real."
Wyatt doesn't respond. Lucy starts to fret, thinking that her earlier fears were confirmed. He takes her hands and says, "I love you." And then he kisses her. This one is different than all the ones before. It's not new or unhurried but it just says 'yes'.
"Why am I not surprised?" A slightly accented voice comes from behind them, forcing Wyatt to hit pause. It was Agent Christopher. And Lucy couldn't decipher whether she was upset or ok with it.
"Agent Christopher, I'm sorry. It was me, um, I know we're breaking ten rules ten ways and we're coworkers and—" Lucy rambles when she's in trouble, she always has, even as a kid.
"Stop right there. I'm not blind, I see it." She sighs, "And as long as you can promise it's not going to interfere with your work, I'm fine with it."
Wyatt squeezed Lucy's hand in relief at her statement.
It's about 3am when Lucy wakes up. She's tucked into Wyatt's side, much like the night prior. She whispers, "I love you too," even if she's unsure he hears her. A few moments later, her thoughts are disproved as he shifts and pulls Lucy closer to him. It's then that the thought runs through her head-even though they are chasing Rittenhouse through time and live in a decomposing bunker hidden from society, she has everything she needs right there.