The room was frozen in silence as the phone went dead. Denise took a breath as she looked at each person in the room.
Wyatt was frozen in his chair, with a look of devastation and pain. He closed his eyes, taking a breath trying to piece together all he heard.
Conner was sitting next to Wyatt looking lost and worried.
Denise looked to Rufus and Jiya, who were clenching each other's hands as tears poured down Jiya's face. Rufus who was still catching up from being back looked confused and worried.
But the one person she didn't want to look at, the one she was worried about the most had his back to the group. When she had brought the phone into the room and asked them all to listen and not interrupt, she had counted her blessings that he had been half under the time machine trying to put on a new part while Rufus directed from a chair.
He had looked up at her from the floor and her face must have given something away because his eyes had narrowed, and he had started to put things down to climb out. But when Lucy's voice had started to echo through the room he froze, transfixed in wonder.
It was when Lucy started to name off all the things she loved abut him, that he moved again. His movements jerky and his eyes wild as he tried to reach the phone.
But when she said
"I love you….."
He froze half way out from under the time machine and when he heard the beeping end of the call and he sagged to the floor, his shoulders heaving as he tried to breath through the pain and longing….
Through the rolling fear and terror….
Past the ache of missing the feel of her in his arms.
He couldn't breath…
It was like she left all over again in with that click.
How dare she talk to him, let him hear her voice but not let him…
Not let him tell her….
That he was furious with her..
Livid that she left…..
That he was aching to hold her….
Terrified of losing her…
That he loved her..
That HE LOVED HER!
He gasped as he pushed down the pain and terror…. The fear and worry.
He kept breathing until he was as numb as he could be…
Numb so he could survive.
Numb so he could fight.
Then he slowly pulled himself out from under the machine fully and turned his back on the room.
His shoulders still heaving as he tried to breath through it. And he willed away the water that was stinging his eyes.
He knew the room was watching him, waiting to see what he would do….. but he couldn't handle their eyes right now.
He couldn't get past the sweet sound of her voice.
His arms ached to hold her, his hands felt empty as he clenched them tight.
And just when he thought he was going to be ok, going to be able to make a plan and go forward it all snapped and he gasped like he was drowning.
All the restraint he had been holding on to for 6 weeks.
All of the fear he had been pushing away.
All of the terror of not being able to protect her.
All of the panic he had when he was waking up at 3 am reaching out for her.
It all exploded and the room around him froze as he bellowed his rage. As everything that he had been pushing down deep, boiled up and out of him. They watched in fear and silence he picked up one thing after and another and threw it against the wall.
They watched and felt his pain as he took the table of tools and turned it over in his blind rage.
Until there was nothing left in his reach and he stood still, his chin on his chest as he heaved breath after breath, his back to them again.
Rufus reached out to Jiya as she stepped forward to go to Flynn. But she shook her head at him and gave a small reassuring smile. She was probably the only one who was safe in the group to go to Flynn right now.
Jiya and Flynn had been of one mind the first 5 weeks.
Doing everything they could to get the ones they loved back. They had also become fast friends, making jokes and laughing together. Being there for each other when they just needed silence and understanding.
But last week when Rufus had come back, Flynn had felt even more alone then ever before. Jiya knew it …. she knew she had been so focused on Rufus the last week that Flynn had finally truly been alone.
She walked over and just stood next to him in silence. She waited for him to speak, just being close so he wasn't alone. After a few moments Flynn took another deep breath and finally lifted his head up off of his chest, but his eyes were still closed.
"Jiya." He whispered in a broken soft voice. "I can't"
Jiya sighed and reached out to pull him in her arms. "Ohh Garcia." She whispered rubbing his back.
"I don't know if I can do this anymore." He whispered into her ear, his arms still at his side. He was broken, and the room could see it and it scared them. Flynn had always been the one fighting, moving forward... trying…. So, to see him so lost and defeated was devastating.
Jiya shook her head, "Of course you can…...Sooooo, you had to break some stuff to get out your anger…. And when we get Lucy back I will hold her while you beat her ass. But we can do this …. I know that WE can." She said with a small soft smile.
But Flynn shook his head as he stood stiff and exhausted, "I can't…... you heard her, that sounded like a goodbye and I can't…... Jiya, I can't lose her…...I will be lost…. again…. I can't…... she won't be there to pull me out again." He said hollowly.
Jiya shook her head and reached out to cup his cheeks again like she did that first night and forced him to look into her eyes. "NO." She said forcefully. "Do not do that…., even if she has given up…... and I don't think she has…... you won't…. I won't…. we will fight, and we will win and we will get her back." She said her voice getting thick with her own tears. "You told me over and over again we would get Rufus back…. You held me and fought with me… and I am going to do the same with you…... We will get her back, ok?" She said.
Flynn closed his eyes and took a breath before he nodded at her slowly.
"No…..." Jiya said forcefully, "Look at me and say it."
Flynn clench his jaw, "We are going to get her back." He said softly.
Jiya nodded at him, "Then beat her ass for this stunt." She said making him smile at her.
"Then beat her ass." He said pulling her into a hug. After a moment he pulled back and nodded down at her, "Ok I am good…... I needed a kick in the ass too evidently." He said smiling softly down at her.
Jiya grinned and shrugged, "Ohh you are not the only one about to get an ass kicking." She said tuning to look at Denise, "She knows more then she has been telling us!" She narrowed her eyes.
Denise went to speak but Rufus raised his hand like he was in a class room…. "ummmm, I am so very confused." He said looking at his girlfriend snug under Flynn's arm.
Wyatt rolled his eyes and waved a hand at him, then turned to Denise. "I am with Jiya…... what have you not been telling us?" He said.
Denise shook her head and sighed, "I have been getting updates from Lucy since she went in. I was the one sending you the emails from her to give you updates." She held up a hand before they could say anything, "I would get simple texts letting me know she was ok or if she needed help….. This is the first time she has ever called me. We had a plan before she went in…. that is what I had been following the last 6 weeks. She told me when and how to get Rufus. She has also been leaving me bread crumbs to follow." She said.
Rufus shook his head again in confusion, "Wait…. I am still confused but now about even more things." He said still looking at Flynn with his arm around Jiya. "Lucy got me back?"
Denise nodded, "She has been holding Rittenhouse off from traveling and letting us do the stops to get Rufus back." She said.
Jiya nodded at her, walking out from Flynn's arm over to the computers, "So now that we have Rufus back…. she is ready to come back?" She said starting to calibrate the time machine.
Denise shook her head, "There are still two more phases to her plan. She is starting phase 2 and 3 now. So, we have get ready."
Flynn looked at Denise with narrowed eyes, "Let me be clear when I say that we are not done talking about this…. But if she is starting the new phases now then we also have to get moving I take it?" He asked her.
Denise sighed knowing that she had done damage to her relationships with all of the team that may never be fixed. "Yes…... phase one was Lucy getting in and getting enough clearance to get into the computers. From my understating that happened at the end of week 3. She has been collecting data since then…... on where and when the sleepers are and what they are supposed to be doing…... also where all of the members of Rittenhouse are and what their rankings and their crimes… she has also been setting up explosives at the main headquarters to destroy the buildings."
Flynn nodded, "Ok what is phase 2? You see I am now past my little lapse and the only way I can feel better is to kill someone … slowly." He said with heat.
Rufus nodded and pointed, "OK, seeeee…... see that does not confuse me… still not normal!" He said grinning.
Jiya rolled her eyes and kept typing away at the time machine. "Phase 2?" She asked.
Denise nodded, "Yes from my understanding we were still a few weeks away from phase 2…... last text said she had about 80% of the information that she was looking for…... this was also the first time that she has called me. So, I know that something is very wrong. She didn't give me much to go off of though. She is going to be sending massive amounts of information to Jiya through the computer. Everything that she has been collecting. Then we will be able to arrest the members and go back with the lifeboat to get the sleepers." Denise said.
Flynn nodded at her, waving his hand in a circle, "Ok phase 3 is also being started tonight?" He asked.
Denise nodded but before she could speak, Jiya sat up with a grin, "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy …. You are still getting an ass kicking but I love you right now… so much information!" She started typing again…... "There is so much…... everything we could need." She said looking up from the computer and grinning.
Flynn narrowed his eyes at Denise who was pausing, "What are you not telling us?" He asked.
Denise sighed, "Phase three is a lot more complicated and I don't have all of the information yet…... we were not ready for it." She said looking at Jiya. "Lucy has been learning how to pilot the mothership from Emma…... part of phase 3 is Lucy taking it on a trip to the past to fix something that Rittenhouse was going to do. Then she plans on blowing up the mother ship, leaving Emma and the two men she takes with. We are supposed to be picking her up in the past and bringing her home." Denise said.
Flynn's eyes narrowed to the point that the green of his eyes was gone, "When is she going to." He snarled his accent thick.
Denise shook her head, "That's just it, she had not updated me yet on the exact date, it is going to be England 1800's…...midcentury was all I was told. I have been collecting clothes for each of you in that time period as well as funds. But as for an exact date. I haven't been told yet." She said.
Flynn tilted his head back clenching his jaw, "So you are telling me…. Lucy is going back over 150 years to another country…... and we have no clue where or when exactly." His accent now so thick it was almost hard to understand him. The room waited while he snarled out a string of Croatian that was most likely not suitable for polite company. He turned to Jiya who was ignoring him and typing on the computer. "Can you track the mother ship?" He asked her.
Jiya nodded, "Actually with the data that Lucy sent me… yes. Hold on and let me see where it is now." The room waited in silence for a few moments before Rufus held his hand up again.
Flynn rolled his eyes at Rufus, "Yesssss." He said drawing it out with his accent.
"Soooo are we friends now?" Rufus asked pointing back and forth between them.
Flynn raised an eyebrow, "Don't get hard and loose with that word now." He said with a grin, then he pointed at Jiya, "She is a friend." He pointed at Denise with narrowed eyes, "She WAS a friend." Then he pointed at Wyatt, "He is still an idiot." he said with a grin.
"Garcia." Jiya said without looking up.
"Sorrrryyyyyy." Flynn said in an exaggerated voice, "He is part of our team and we trust him." He said rolling his eyes.
Rufus gave a confused nod, "Ok and you and Lucy? Are you guys like a thing… like was she talking to you on the phone?" He asked scratching his cheek.
Flynn rolled his eyes again, harder this time. "I forget you have been taking it easy…. being dead and all that…. Yes, Lucy and I are together and yes we were happy…... at least we will be after she gets here, and I cuff her to the bunker." He said under his breath.
Jiya looked up and grinned at Rufus, "We forget you missed months of planning and changes." She went back to typing, "Flynn and I are besties now… we braid each other's hair, tell stories at night, gossip about our love lives." She said grinning.
Wyatt looked back and forth and rolled his eyes, "If you guys are done bonding…. can we figure out where we are going?"
Flynn grinned at Jiya, "Ohhh he's just jealous …. he wants part of our midnight ice cream and movie marathons."
Jiya snorted and then grinned at Wyatt, "Hay I invited him…... he passed." She said typing some more.
Rufus just looked back and forth between all of them, then shook his head giving up.
Denise pointed at Wyatt, "You are not going, you will be leading the arrests at the main buildings that are not blown up. Conner, can you run through everything that Lucy sent and compile a list. I want to hit them all at once…... or at least as close as we can." She turned to Flynn and Jiya, "You two get more bonding time, because you are going alone." Denise said walking over to the closet where she stuck bags of clothes.
Rufus held his hand up again and Flynn sighed, "This is not elementary School. If you have a question just ask…... stop raising your hand." He said exasperated.
Rufus pulled his hand down and rubbed the back of his neck, "Why are they going alone? I can go with."
Denise brought the bag over to the desk, "Lucy made it clear only 2 people. She had to have 2 free seats." She said.
Flynn raised his eyebrows, "She is brining someone for show and tell?" He asked.
Denise shook her head, "All I know is that she said two empty seats….and Rufus we just got you back. So, you are taking a break and helping guide them home from here and helping Conner get the lists ready." She said.
Wyatt cleared his throat, "Could it be Jess? In the second seat?" He looked down for a moment, then he looked back up at Denise, "Has she…. Lucy said anything about Jess?"
Denise shook her head no, "I have not been told anything about Jess…... and it could be her in the second seat. I have no clue."
Jiya shook her head, "Not Jess…. Lucy just sent me information… Jess is in a cell in a main building down town… it says she is safe and fine. Just in a holding cell, has been for the last six weeks." She mumbled.
Denise looked around the group, "It will most likely be a few hours. She is sending the information and she was going to travel…" She started but Jiya cut her off.
"Wait…." Jiya said to the group with excitement, "Lucy is sending me a message…..." Jiya typed some more, then grinned, "She wants me to send fake jump information to her mothership… May 5, 1855- northern England…. She says to follow with a real jump to July 5 1855… same coordinates…. what is she up too?" Jiya mumbled, she looked up to Flynn and Denise, "Do we do it?" She asked.
"The fake jump or real jump?" Denise asked.
Jiya shook her head, "Both?" She asked biting her lip.
Flynn shook his head, "They are months apart… I don't like it." He said looking at the screen.
Jiya nodded, "I agree… this seems off, but I say let's send the fake jump now…...there is a reason she choose it." She said looking at Flynn and Denise who both gave her a quick nod.
Jiya quickly sent the fake jump to the mothership, making it look like it was just updating. She also made it look like it was the first time the life boat jumped.
Jiya turned to Denise and Flynn, "So do we wait for her to jump or do we go to where she told us to go…. When she told us?" She asked.
Flynn turned to Denise who shook her head, "I am leaving this up to you Flynn…. I will give you the information I have, but she has not given me much about phase 3. Almost nothing to be exact." Denise shook her head, "She has been vague, just that she was going back in time, leaving Emma and destroying the mother ship. I have no clue what to do here." She said carefully.
Flynn nodded and closed his eyes trying to piece what he knew together, he looked over to Jiya. She shook her head and he raised an eyebrow, she shrugged, and he nodded.
Rufus looked back and forth before clearing his throat, "Soooooo you guys can have full conversations without talking now? … Should I be worried?" He asked with a nervous grin.
Jiya shook her head, "No…. you know better then to break your hand." She said looking at Flynn with a grin who rolled his eyes.
"It was one time." He said, "I say we go to 3 days after her fake jump…. Then wait out the three months if we have too…."
Jiya nodded, "I agree, we will need to take some supplies incase we are there for three months." She said typing quickly again.
Flynn nodded and pulled over the bag going through the clothes, "Really...?" He asked Denise holding up the black jacket.
Denise shrugged, "I had to have it made special because you are a giant….. Jiya I was able to get some outfits from eBay." She said.
Flynn raised an eye brow and pulled out a navy-blue velvet dress, "So how are we traveling?" he asked.
Denise shrugged, "Rich? I figured I would get you nice enough clothes and enough old money it would be easier to get around." She said.
Flynn grinned, "That will be a nice change… no more slumming it or stealing."
Jiya shrugged, "Hay, I am good at stealing." She said with a grin.
Flynn shook his head, "and I am good at ..." Jiya cut him off, "Ohhh shut up." She said, "and go change while I look to see what happened in that time and place."
Flynn shrugged and went to change, when he came back a few moment later Jiya whistled, "You clean up well…" She looked down on the computer, "I am finding nothing at this time or area." She said standing up and walking over to grab her outfit.
Flynn nodded, "I couldn't think of anything either…. We need Lucy, she would know." He mumbled.
Jiya walked out a few moments later with her dress not all laced up, "Yes Lucy would….. so let's go ask her." She said as Denise pulled on the laces of the corset and then buttoned the back of the dress.
Flynn nodded and began to gather up supplies to take on the trip, "Conner can you grab some of the papers and information, so we can study it." He said pointing over at the papers Jiya had printed out.
Conner nodded and then sat at the computer to print out more information. Wyatt stood up and went over to the cabinet to pull out more supplies and weapons, putting them into the time machine.
Denise walked over to Conner to have him print out all of the texts and emails she had been accumulating from Lucy, so they could take them with.
Then she walked over to Flynn and him two guns and extra clips.
Jiya finally dressed grabbed a few of the knifes off of the weapons shelves, putting one in her boot then walking over to hand Flynn a long knife he slid into his boot and another smaller gun he slid into his other boot.
Jiya murmured something about, "don't let what happened last time happen again."
Flynn grinned and shrugged replying, "It wasn't my fault…. Don't run head first into things."
Jiya laughed and rolled her eyes at him, "Please… everyone knows that everything that happens is your fault…... And even if it isn't …... everyone will blame you anyway."
Flynn snorted, "I swear I was blamed for Trump as president last week…... said I changed something in the past." He said loading more supplies.
Denise snorted from the computer station, "I still say it was you."
Rufus looked back and forth between Denise, Wyatt and Flynn… then he looked at Jiya. "Ummmmm one last thing…. you guys do remember that he shot me…... right?" He said pointing at Flynn.
"First of all, … I didn't shoot you… I had Capone shoot you." Flynn grinned at him, "Second, I can almost promise you that will not happen again…. I mean when will we see Capone again."
"Garcia!" Jiya said rolling her eyes before giving Rufus a quick kiss goodbye and then climbing into the lifeboat.
Flynn shrugged, "Besides like I need a gun to kill you." He said climbing in after Jiya. He stuck his head out the lifeboat door, "Plus the funnest way to kill someone… is not with a gun."
Rufus through his hands up, "Yep still a psychopath…. Glad to see not everything has changed while I was dead." He said as the door slid closed and the life boat disappeared. "Sooo, Denise… I have some questions." He said.