From Chapter 3:

"That Emma was actually successful in her mission….and that the plan was to…..erase me…..all along. And, all of this," she motioned to the commotion beyond the window, "Wasn't anything we accidentally did, but something she did purposefully?"

He shook his head. "No….I mean….she wouldn't. If anything, she's been trying to change things to bring you back to the Rittenhouse fold, back to Carol, she would never—"

At that moment, the door swung open, and a stern-looking Agent Christopher entered the room.

Chapter 4: Reality Checks

Rufus sat at the computer console directly in front of where the Lifeboat was docked, staring up at the glass wall of the conference room. He could clearly make out Denise Christopher and Lucy sitting at the table….and Wyatt pacing like a caged tiger behind them.

When Christopher had entered the room, she'd announced that it was late—which was at least one piece of information they now had—and that the NSA agents coming to question Lucy wouldn't be here until the next day. He'd watched as Wyatt had nearly imploded at the mention of NSA questioning. He could tell that Wyatt was seconds away from doing….something….even though he wasn't sure what that something was...though no doubt it would have somehow gotten him into trouble—because wasn't that how it always worked? But then Christopher had surprised them all by saying that she still wanted to talk to Lucy tonight. Just the basics, she had assured them. At that point, she had summarily dismissed the two men. Wyatt stood his ground, refusing to leave, and Rufus had followed suit—not really knowing what else to do at that point.

After what seemed like an eternal standoff, he had been blown away when Christopher had relented.

"Fine Logan, you can stay." She had said simply.

And that had left him in a bit of a predicament….since she hadn't mentioned what she expected him to do. But Lucy had suddenly spoken up.

"Rufus—go find out about Amy—please? Get on the internet….find out for me?"

He had agreed immediately and stood to leave, when Christopher had delivered the next blow.

"This whole place is now on black out and lock down—no information in or out to the rest of the world—NSA orders. That means no Wi-Fi, and all cellular service is being blocked. Consider Mason Industries to be firmly embedded in the mid-1980s until further notice."

"What? They can't do that!" Rufus turned back to Lucy, his heart sinking at the look of despondency on her face.

"They can do anything they want," Christopher answered simply. "And the lockdown means that you're all bunking here tonight—good news is that Connor Mason has some quite adequate dormitories in the south wing….everyone will be comfortable."

"Speaking of Connor," he said, "Where is he?"

"Conference in New York."

Rufus spun around at that-shocked that it was Lucy who had answered him.

"In our timeline...he left for New York...just before we left for 1849."

Christopher inhaled sharply. She seemed surprised. Good for Lucy. But the Agent quickly regained her composure.

"Yes, Mason is in New York. He's been apprised that the facility is on lock-down, but that all of his employees are safe."

"Rufus," Wyatt said, "Go to the lockers, get changed, grab me some clothes….and start going through our cell phones."

He stared at his friend. Was his over-drive paranoia affecting his hearing? "What good is that going to do, if we can't connect to—?"

"We can still look at photos, documents, anything that's actually downloaded….there still might be something useful."

"Okay," he nodded, "See you soon." He paused at the doorway, noting the guards had apparently been dismissed, then started down the stairs.

Wyatt had been right, of course. After a shower and changing out of his cholera-hospital-and-Astor-riot-infested clothing, he'd started feeling a little more at ease, a little bit more on firm ground again. He'd felt even better after retrieving his phone. Filled to the brim with pictures of his Mom, and Kevin….and Jiya. One thing was clear-he and Jiya were still he and Jiya. He'd grabbed Wyatt's things as well—but his phone had been completely empty.

So that was when he'd decided to come to this spot….to sit, and think….and stare at the conference room. He had no idea where Jiya had gotten to, but she was obviously somewhere in the building still….and since he couldn't text her...he would sit here, until something happened. After the rush of the jump, and the shock that followed, he knew he'd been running on adrenaline for hours. And now? Now that the adrenaline had faded….he was just feeling….lost.

Until he heard a distinctive and familiar throat-clearing from behind him—Jiya.

"So," she said, pulling up a stool to sit beside him, "This is new."

He nodded his head, a slight smile quirking his lip. "Yeah….that's one word for it."

"I was thinking," she placed her hand on his wrist, "I should probably do a little timeline reality run-down for you….like we sometimes do….just to check for differences…." She smiled at him, then glanced at her shoes. "But, the thing is...now I'm a little afraid of what we'll find out."

He turned to her fully and drew her into an embrace without preamble. "I got everything I needed from the pictures on my phone."

He noted the way she relaxed in his arms almost immediately.

"So in your reality….we're still…."

"I love you."

She nodded, pulling her head back slightly so that she was looking directly at him.

"Good to know."

"Uh…."

"And I love you too."

He smiled, for the first time in hours. "Good."

"So," her gaze lifted to the conference room. "Tell me about Lucy."

"You really don't know her? I mean, not even in a 'seems kinda familiar' or saw her once in a dream' kind of way?"

She shook her head. "No….sorry."

He looked at Lucy, in the conference room. "This is so…." his gaze was pulled back to Jiya, who was glancing between the conference room and and him, chewing at her lower lip. After a moment, she spoke.

"Do I like her?"

He smiled. "Yeah….you do."

He repositioned, so that they were still leaning against each other, but now both could see the drama unfolding in the conference room.

He shrugged, "I mean….that's the thing of it….you guys are….friends. The four of us—we go out, have fun together—when we're not chasin' old Carol through time."

"Carol?" she asked, looking back at him, "Carol who?"

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Not joking."

He glanced up at Wyatt, still pacing beside the glass, remembering his warning about offering too much information. But he couldn't have meant to Jiya….could he? But still, he started carefully. "Who does….your….time team chase?"

She looked at him steadily, then eventually responded. "Flynn. Well, Flynn and Emma, his pilot….and a few other goons…."

He exhaled slowly, well, at least that was something familiar about this situation. He nodded at her, "Flynn and Emma. Okay, okay….well, Emma is Carol's pilot too….and I know Flynn. I mean, we used to chase him, too."

"Used too?"

"Until we-well, Christopher-caught him."

She was looking at him carefully. So now you chase….

"Carol."

"Carol."

"And sometimes Emma too….sometimes she runs these solo missions that—" And that was probably too much information.

He saw her glance down at her feet.

"Listen, Jiya, I know this is super weird, but…."

"But you love me….and we're together?"

"Yes."

She smiled again. "Well then, that's all that really matters."

Hi chuckled lightly, and drew her into another hug. "Yeah."

Eventually, she released the hug. As she pulled back from him, he saw a new question in her eyes. "So what is it?" he asked.

"Well….I know I just said that's all that matters….but it doesn't mean that I'm not curious. "She glanced up again, "Wyatt and Lucy are….?"

"Part of the time team," he shrugged, "They're my time team….my friends….part of my family."

"Not exactly what I was asking about."

"What do you mean?"

She stretched then, pulling herself to stand beside him. "It's just that Wyatt seems-well…."

At that moment, the conference room door flew open, and Wyatt and Lucy started moving down the stairs, Agent Christopher trailing behind.