They continued reading for the next twenty minutes or so, until the silence was broken by Rufus….giggling.

"What?" asked Lucy.

"Nothin'."

He was a quiet for a moment, then the giggling began again.

"What?" asked Wyatt.

"Nothin'". But this time he couldn't contain the giggles, and they morphed into a large guffaw.

"Not nothing," said Lucy, "Out with it."

"In this one….we swap bodies."

"What?" asked Lucy.

"Hey, you asked."

Then it was Jiya's turn to chuckle at the screen in front of her.

"More body-swapping?" asked Wyatt.

"No, well not this one-I read another one last night about that-but this….this is just Wyatt trying to teach everybody to fight."

"What's funny about that?" he asked.

"Lucy's just not," she trailed off as Lucy looked at her, but then she continued, "Very coordinated."

"I can't be that bad," Lucy said, leaning over to read Jiya's screen.

"You kinda are…."

Wyatt grinned at the two women. "So the writers know that Lucy's a little…."

"Watch it," she said.

He shrugged, "Clumsy."

"It's okay though," said Jiya, flicking through the pages. "Turns out you're pretty bad-ass, by the end of it."

"See," said Lucy, triumphantly.

"Hey," said Wyatt, "No reason you can't be a clumsy bad ass….they ain't mutually-exclusive."

"I guess not," she gave him a soft smile.

"Jiya's pretty badass in a lot of these stories too," said Rufus.

"Because Jiya's badass in real life," said Lucy.

"And don't you forget it," said Jiya, scribbling something on her note page.

"Care to share with the class?" asked Wyatt, nodding toward her note page.

"Not….yet." she said, "I'm just….tracking some things….some dates. I'll tell you if it amounts to anything."

Wyatt nodded.

"And Lucy, you are a really cool teacher….I might have paid attention in your class," Jiya changed the topic.

"There's stories about me teaching? Like, before….all this?" Lucy motioned toward the Lifeboat.

"No, it's after….but in this story Rufus and Wyatt go listen to you give a guest lecture."

"Cool," said Wyatt, leaning over to look at the screen.

"Hey guys," cut in Rufus.

"Yeah," asked Lucy.

"I don't really cackle wildly when I laugh, do I?"

All three nodded in agreement.

"Huh, I always figured my laugh was pretty normal."

"Well, it's your laugh….so I love it, we all love it," Jiya said, swooping sideways to kiss his cheek.

"Okay, okay you two….we're tryin' to read here." said Wyatt.

Jiya laughed, flinging a pen in Wyatt's general direction, but it clattered to the ground.

"Oh, is that the way this is gonna go Marri?" he asked, scrunching a piece of notepaper from the counter into a ball and tossing it back at her. His aim was better.

Jiya squealed, "Lucy! Control your…. Control him."

Lucy looked up from her monitor. "I'm not getting involved in this. Anyone have any thoughts on what TFP stands for?"

Still trying to control her laughter, Jiya pointed toward her notepad. "I wrote that down too-it's in the summary of a bunch of the stories."

"Tooth Fairy protocol? Tiny feet proud?" Rufus suggested.

"Have you noticed anything in common in the stories that have that label?"

"Not really," Jiya shook her head.

Suddenly there was a loud guffaw from Rufus.

"What now?" asked Lucy.

He pointed to his screen, "I'm pretty funny in some of these stories, I crack myself up!"

Which made Jiya laugh, and Lucy couldn't help but join suit.

"Wait!" Wyatt's clearly agitated voice suddenly rose over the din of laughter.

Lucy immediately turned from Rufus to look at him. "What?"

"What the hell….I mean…. I mean...you can't write this stuff on the internet!" He waved the tablet in the general direction of the others.

Rufus grabbed it from him, quickly scanning the page. "Dude, I'm pretty sure you can film that stuff on the internet….I mean, that's practically the primary use of the internet."

"Okay, still, I mean….you shouldn't….I mean….it's…..that's….." Wyatt continued to sputter.

Jiya, who had since grabbed the tablet from Rufus nodded, "Well, now Wyatt knows what the 'M' means."

Lucy shook her head in confusion, "What are you going on about?" She reached for the tablet from Jiya.

"No, don't-" Wyatt said.

But she was already reading. "Oh….OH….oh my….well…." She knew there was no way the color on her cheeks had gone unnoticed.

"And now Lucy knows what 'M' means, too." said Jiya.

"So….are you saying you read this, Jiya?" Wyatt sputtered.

Jiya grabbed the tablet back from Lucy, who almost reluctantly released it. "Actually, no….I don't think I read this one."

"Then how did you know about the…." Lucy started.

"Is there more than one like this?" asked Wyatt, looking truly alarmed.

Jiya shrugged. "Maybe a few of them."

"Are you serious?" Wyatt said.

"Hey, it's not like we went looking for them or anything last night," Rufus said.

"What?" Lucy asked, trying desperately to find a way to change the subject, while finding her eyes inexplicably drawn back to the story.

"Lunch!" said Jiya, beating her to the subject-changing punch, "We should get some lunch!"

Suddenly desperate to put some space between her and Wyatt, and that….very descriptive story, Lucy practically shouted "I'll go make some sandwiches!" Because otherwise, she was quite certain the few paragraphs she'd managed to skim….coupled with his nearness, were going to cause her to self-combust. Phrases and words from those handful of paragraphs were already cycling around and around in her mind-the description of his hands on her, the whispered words between them as he traced kisses down her neck to her collarbone and then on to her…. It caused memories from their one night together in the guesthouse to come flooding back with an intensity she hadn't allowed herself to acknowledge in months. She could feel it as the words written about what he did once the dress was off continued to dance in her head….and how did the writer even know he liked to do that one thing, and what it did to her….

"Seriously, do not let that girl make us lunch," Rufus warned, yanking her unceremoniously from her thoughts. "I heard about the sandwich she served to a beloved President…."

"I'll take care of it," said Wyatt.

Lucy exhaled, feeling the heat from her cheeks beginning to recede. That would work too, she supposed, so far as increasing the distance between them went.

"You guys keep going through this….stuff," Wyatt said over his shoulder, as he walked toward the kitchen.


Lucy continued reading through the stories. Standing now, with her tablet, and walking in circles to work out the kinks from sitting on the stool so long. There had been more stories of missions she recognized, missions she didn't recognize….whole lives she didn't recognize-lives where she'd never heard of time travel, or where Wyatt had a child…. She paused in her circling and leaned over the counter again, looking at her notes. There were several more marked with the inscrutable TFP, and another one marked with that 'M'. She'd paused when she hit on that one, considering reading it….for research purposes of course, but thought better of it, instead making note of the title….for later. About to move on to the next story, she glanced around and saw that Rufus and Jiya were still absorbed in their own reading-and she relented, going back to the start of the story-and starting to read.

Lucy smiled at the predicament these….versions of them had gotten into, and how it had turned to something more….intimate. But then the smile faded as the writing became more….descriptive. Like the previous story, it was as though the writer had some kind of preternatural knowledge of how they were together-the touches, the whispers, the teasing playfulness, the…..well, the love. She could feel herself responding to the words, the thoughts-could feel his hands on her again, hear his murmured words of adoration, imagine how it felt to have him inside her again….until any feelings of pleasure were suddenly replaced with an ache of longing. She grimaced, and bit the inside of her cheek. Because a deep and meaningful friendship with Wyatt Logan was all well and good….but she wanted this….she longed for this. And it had already been too long-the details of their night together were already beginning to fade in her memory-and the tighter she grasped at those details, the quicker they seemed to dissipate. She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them slowly again, re-reading the page, hoping somehow she could will those words into her reality….wishing it could be possible, but still afraid of what she stood to lose.

"What'cha readin'?" Jiya's voice came from beside her.

She gasped, glancing over in her friend's direction, hoping her cheeks weren't as flushed as they felt. "Uh-a story."

"Um….yeah, I kinda figured that already…." Jiya's gaze started as inquisitive, but became more knowing as she waited for Lucy to respond.

"Just….about a mission."

"A mission," Jiya repeated.

Lucy nodded, thankful that at least Rufus was still enthralled by whatever he was reading, and wasn't joining into this conversation.

Jiya continued to stare at her, and then smiled overly-sweetly. "Well, when you're finished with….the mission story….you might find this one intriguing. It talks about your car accident, when you were in school? And how it could be linked to time travel."

"That is….intriguing," Lucy replied, sitting straighter and hopefully nonchalantly flipping to a new and non-M-rated story on her tablet. "I've thought about that….once or twice before….which is probably crazy but…."

Jiya shrugged, "Hey, it's time travel. You just never know, right?"

Lucy glanced at the new story on her tablet, then held it out to Jiya, "This one is about you, your visions."

Jiya nodded, "I think I read that one last night. It's an interesting idea….but doesn't seem to fit with what we now know."

Lucy shrugged, "Maybe in another timeline?"

"Maybe," Jiya nodded.

Deciding there was no reason to re-read something Jiya was already familiar with, she flipped ahead ot the next set of stories. Over the next few minutes, she skimmed through a couple of "one-shots" they were called, shorter pieces, usually focused on interactions between her and her colleagues more so than on missions….and it wasn't lost on her how many were about her and Wyatt. Then she found another mission-based story that seemed familiar, and then there was….well that was a label she hadn't seen yet.

"Jiya," she asked, already starting to read, "What's this 'Garcy' thing mean?"

"Uh….actually, I'm not sure what you're going to think about that…."

Lucy glanced up at her friend. "Why? I mean, I already started it, and I like it so far. It's well written, descriptive-it's different, it's a different perspective on a mission, and…." it was then that she registered what the next paragraph was about. "Oh. Oh my. Oh my gawd."

"Well, you did say it was descriptive and different…."

"But how…..how did you know….you're saying you read this?"

She watched as Jiya stood, glancing at Rufus who was still engrossed in his story-a goofy grin on his face. Jiya then approached closer, looking over Lucy's shoulder at the screen.

"Actually no-not that particular one."

"There's more than one of these too?" she asked.

"What are we talking about?" Wyatt had of course chosen that very moment to come back into the room, carrying a tray of sandwiches, salads, and beer.

"Nevermind!" said Jiya and Lucy in unison.

He set the tray down on the counter.

"Lemme see."

"NO!" Lucy nearly shouted. "Don't read it! I mean…." she rephrased as she saw him look at her in surprise. "I mean, you won't like it."

Wyatt shook his head with a chuckle, "See Jiya, what did I tell you. Bossy know it all," he winked at Lucy with smirk, as he grabbed the tablet from her "How can you possibly know that I won't like…."

Lucy saw the very moment he read that paragraph-when his expression turned from one of good-natured teasing to something else.

"Wha-what the…. Are you kidding me?!"

"Wyatt," Lucy began, but Jiya beat her to the punch, jumping up beside them and yanking the tablet back from Wyatt's hands.

"And that, Sergeant, is why you listen to Lucy….or to me….or to just about any woman. Got it?"

Wyatt's mouth was still hanging open in shock. "But what was that?"

"A story," replied Jiya, "Just like the body-swapping one. And you guys have never actually swapped bodies, right?"

Wyatt shook his head, confusion spreading across his face.

"There, see? So nothing to worry about. Here-" Lucy watched as Jiya shoved a different tablet into his hands. "Read this one….it's about Darlington….and don't be an idiot to Lucy because of a story!"

Lucy's brows nearly hit the ceiling in surprise. She was about to start talking, to somehow undo the mess that had no doubt just been made worse by that statement, when Wyatt suddenly turned to face her, a contrite expression on his face.

"Sorry," he said, and took the other tablet back to his stool, grabbing a sandwich on the way past.

Lucy stared at Jiya in wonderment, still trying to understand what had just happened.

"Grew up with two brothers, remember? I learned a thing or two about how boys tick."

Lucy gave a half-shrug, conceding the point, and watched as Wyatt, still reading and eating pulled himself up on his stool beside Rufus, who suddenly looked up from whatever story he'd been finding so amusing-apparently oblivious to what had just transpired.

"Hey, sandwiches!" he said, then grabbed a sandwich and a beer-and returned to reading his story.

Lucy looked from Rufus to Wyatt, who was also engrossed by his new story, a goofy grin on his face. She looked at Jiya, and the two of them wordlessly shook their heads.


To be continued...