Wyatt was up bright and early the next morning, he was so desperate to see Lucy again, it took everything he had not to leave his room and break down her door. He was showered, dressed and pacing the floor, unable to stop the mounting feelings of uncertainty and doubt that had been plaguing him all night. Rufus was not at all pleased with this development, he groaned as he pressed a pillow over his head. "Dude, what the hell? It's not even daylight outside."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry Rufus." Wyatt sat down on the edge of his bed.

Rufus rolled over and peeked at Wyatt from under the pillow, "Alright, what is going on? He yawned. "Jiya and I get off the elevator and you and Lucy both look like the cat that ate the canary."

"The cat that ate the canary?" Wyatt smirked. "Really, Rufus?"

Rufus sat upright and threw the pillow down in front of him, glaring at Wyatt. "Spill it."

"Nothing happened, Rufus."

"Uh-huh and I'm sure that nothing is why you're up pacing this room before the crack of dawn like some sort of crazed, lovesick animal."

Wyatt sighed, "Okay, you know how badly I screwed things up." Rufus nodded. "I don't know, I just thought that Lucy and I would never – " he hesistated, not sure which verbage to use.

"-happen" Rufus supplied for him.

Wyatt shrugged. "Yeah" he nodded, thinking over the conversation of the previous night, Lucy's hands on his face, the feel of her lips pressed to his.

"Are you still with me?" Rufus asked with a smile. Wyatt glanced at his friend, surprisingly happy that he could sort through this with his friend. "So…..it happened?"

"I'm not sure", Wyatt said with a groan. "She kissed me. I didn't expect her to after last night and I'm not even sure why she kissed me. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe she didn't mean to, maybe she regrets it." Rufus was doing his best to try to hide his amusement, but he was failing. Wyatt was pacing again, running his hands through his hair. He stopped, when he heard Rufus let out a small chuckle. "You're laughing at me, aren't you?" he said suddenly defensive.

Rufus shook his head, "Wyatt, I don't think you have anything to worry about, man. Lucy is a lot of things, but one thing she is NOT, is insincere."

Wyatt considered Rufus' words, nodded his head, then grabbed a pillow off of his own bed and threw it roughly at his friend. "Thanks, man"

"Don't mention it" yawned Rufus. "Now go back to sleep or get the hell out. Some of us are battling a hangover."

The large crowds had dispersed, but the care-free feeling of the team, the excitement they felt had not diminished with them. They felt alive and they almost foolishly wanted more, though they knew it was risky to push their luck. After it was clear that everyone was awake and dressed, they all ventured down to eat breakfast together at a café just outside their hotel, not daring to go beyond their safety net any more than necessary.

Rufus and Jiya both watched Wyatt and Lucy like they were the main exhibit at a zoo. If they were aware of the attention they were receiving, they acted completely oblivious to it. Though they sat at separate tables with Mason in between them, they kept stealing glances at one another, softly smiling to themselves and sipping their coffee. After a few minutes of observing the scene, Flynn put down his own mug and leaned over to Rufus. "You know, Rufus, it's impolite to stare at people when they're trying to enjoy a meal."

Rufus jumped "I don't know what you mean, Flynn" Rufus picked up his fork and stabbed at his eggs.

"Oh, I think you do and I think it has everything to do with the conversation Lucy and Wyatt had in the hall last night." Flynn sat back and brought his coffee mug back to his lips.

Rufus stared at him open-mouthed. "How do you – wait a minute, are you telling me you heard them last night? What did they say?" he whispered.

Flynn gave him a satisfied smirk and said nothing more.

Jiya was determined to get to the bottom of the "Wyatt and Lucy situation" as she and Rufus called it, and therefore proposed to the others that they spend the next week as tourists. She reasoned that the more fun they all spent away from the hotel, away from the reminders of Rittenhouse and why they were there, the more at ease they all could be and hopefully, with the right encouragement, Wyatt and Lucy could find their way back to each other.

"Okay, I know you all are going to think I'm crazy and maybe yes, it's pushing our luck a bit, but I think we need a vacation. No. We deserve a vacation and the way I see it – this is our only chance to get to be somewhat normal for a while, so why not take advantage of that? We should go sightseeing, go to Coney Island – do anything and everything that we can to make this week the best week of our lives"

Everyone looked at Jiya as if she had just spoken in tongues. Rufus was the first to speak up. "Okay, yesterday was awesome – I'll give you that, but you're talking about wandering around the city when Emma could be out there right now, trying to hunt us down."

Jiya slammed her hand down on the table, "This city is home to millions of people. It's huge. Emma has no idea where we are, there's no historical event that will pull us all together. Yesterday was it – and she didn't find us – so the chances of her being in the same place at the same time as we are, well, they're pretty small." She looked hopefully at the five other faces gathered around the various tables, all of them looking at her, considering.

No one said a word for what felt like an eternity. Rufus was about to breathe out a hearty sigh of relief when Lucy set down her coffee and cleared her throat. "I agree with Jiya." she said simply. Wyatt gave her a big grin, but she purposefully did not look at him. "I'm tired of Rittenhouse running my life. If I'm not trying to keep them from destroying history or destroying my happiness, I'm hiding from them." She threw down her napkin and leaned back in her chair. "We're here in 1945 because of them. Why not try to enjoy ourselves before we have to go back to living like prisoners?"

Mason clapped his hands with anticipation. "Where shall we start?"

First, they bought a camera – because as Jiya so rightly pointed out, how could they be proper tourists without one? Then they jumped on the Subway and made their way down to Battery Park where they boarded the Staten Island Ferry and visited the Statue of Liberty. Snapping photos of each other and of Lady Liberty, herself, felt surreal. It had been so long since any one of them had done anything this normal, but for this group of six time travelers it was anything but since they were 73 years out of their own time. Lucy, ever ready with historical knowledge and background information, supplied them the story of how the statue was gifted to the United States by France and the subsequent battle to have it built once it arrived here. Rufus turned to Wyatt after Lucy's history lesson and whispered "Wow, it's amazing how much more I enjoy these mini lectures of hers when I'm not in fear of my life."

Mason suggested attending a Broadway show as their next day's excursion, but everyone wanted to see something different, and the ensuing argument almost ended in disaster before Rufus suggested they draw straws. Lucy had drawn the shortest straw and was therefore given the power to choose what they would all see. She was torn between Oklahoma! and Harvey, which, she informed them, happened to be one of her favorite classic films. The men absolutely refused to sit through a musical, so Harvey it was. Wyatt sat next to Lucy in the theatre. He watched her face light up as familiar scenes played out live in front of them. He had never seen the movie, but he could see why it was a favorite of hers. Elwood P. Dowd was such an endearing character, full of kindness towards everyone he met – even though most people thought he was crazy. Seeing an invisible 6 foot tall rabbit would tend to do that, Wyatt reasoned, but the play, itself was better than he had expected when Lucy had first given him the synopsis. Wyatt smiled at her in the darkened theater as she mouthed a memorized verse. "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. For years, I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me." She turned and noticed Wyatt looking at her. She blushed a little and shook her head, shrugging her shoulders apparently embarrassed that he had caught her uttering the lines. Lucy might have felt self-conscious, but Wyatt was sure that he had never loved her more.

After dinner that night, Lucy and Wyatt walked side by side, fingers brushing fingers, neither one daring to make the first move to grasp the others hand. Despite all the time they were spending together, they hadn't had a moment to themselves so that they could talk about what had happened just a few nights before. Still, these little moments together, away from the bunker, away from Rittenhouse, away from their crazy, messed up lives gave them a sense of normalcy and peace which did much to heal the wounds to their relationship that had been so recently inflicted.

They next few days were a blur. They saw the Empire State Building, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and Jiya won the coin toss which had them going to see the Radio City Rockettes instead of watching the Brooklyn Dodgers play the Chicago Cubs. This small victory of Jiya's set off such a protest from the guys that Lucy and Jiya finally agreed to go to the baseball game the following day when the Dodgers played the Pirates.

They were just leaving Ebbets Field after an exciting win by the Dodgers, when Wyatt saw a flash of red hair in the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned, grasping Lucy's arm pulling her closer to him protectively. "What is it?" she looked around at him, suddenly concerned.

Wyatt scanned the crowd, searching for any sign of Emma Whitmore. Flynn turned and saw Wyatt's tensed figure and approached him with an expectant look on his face. Wyatt shook his head. "I thought I saw red hair."he murmured. Suddenly all of the apprehension that met them almost a week ago when they first landed in 1945, was back. Wyatt and Flynn were on full alert, looking over the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of who or what Wyatt saw.

Lucy breathed out a sigh. "Well, it doesn't necessarily mean it was Emma, does it? I mean, there are other people with red hair." But Wyatt wasn't convinced. They had been enjoying themselves too much, and he had to admit, he had let his guard down a bit. He muttered something to Flynn who nodded his head and marched off towards Rufus and Jiya.

"Mason" Wyatt called. "You're with Lucy and me. Flynn's got Rufus and Jiya." Lucy couldn't help but notice that their three companions were headed in an opposite direction. She pointed this out to Wyatt who explained. "They're going another way back to the hotel. We're both going to be making a few stops in between just to be sure."

They hailed a taxi and set off towards a hotel in Queens. Only to run around the corner and jump in another taxi towards some restaurant in Manhattan. They switched taxis a few more times, ascertained that they weren't followed and then entered their hotel. They were joined in the lobby by Flynn, Rufus and Jiya a few minutes later.

"Okay, "Rufus breathed, "I'm officially freaked out."

"You made sure you weren't followed?" Wyatt asked Flynn

"I double backed and switched cabs. We even took a water taxi. I didn't see any sign of Emma." Flynn said matter of factly.

Wyatt nodded. It bothered him that he had seen that red hair but just as quickly lost sight of it…like the person was hiding. If he had caught another glimpse of it in his search, he might have been put at ease – but the not knowing was eating him alive. He wasn't about to take anymore risks. "Alright, I say for the next few days we stay here, we lay low." Jiya began to complain. "I don't like it any more that you do, but we need to stay safe. We should maybe even consider switching hotels."

They decided that they would spend the next few days, moving from hotel to hotel just to be sure. They stayed at the Algonquian on night and then moved on to the Iroqouis, going in groups of three and never going directly to the hotel. Their final night had them sitting in a small inn in Brooklyn. Jiya was visibly upset.

"We had such a perfect first week here. Why don't we do something on our last day, so that we leave on a high note. We haven't seen hide nor hair of Emma – we're not even sure that was Emma."

Wyatt was nervous, but as he looked over at Lucy he could tell that the stress was getting to her again. He hated seeing her like this, she looked trapped and anxious – worry lines creasing her forehead as she rubbed her hands together mindlessly. He thought back to just a few nights before when she had been so carefree sitting in the theater – that was the life she deserved to have. Not this. Not running for her life and hiding. He exchanged looks with Flynn who shrugged at him. "Okay, Jiya – what did you have in mind?"

She grinned widely, "How about we spend our last day in Coney Island?" As she looked around the room, she saw lots of raised eyebrows and shaking heads. "No, listen. It'll be crowded, right? And we've been keeping such a low profile. We don't even have to stay that long. I just think we should have one last bit of fun before we have to go back to reality."

The six of them set off in groups of three again, Flynn and Wyatt agreeing to meet at the Wonder Wheel with their respective groups in tow. Once again, with the crowds and the excitement that surrounded them, the anxiety of the past few days seemed to melt away as they rode the Cyclone, screamed and laughed as they swung wildly on the Wonder Wheel and sat on park benches eating candy apples. Rufus was loathe to admit it, but Jiya was right. There had been no sign of Emma and they were having the time of their lives.

Lucy caught Wyatt gazing fondly at her as they rode the Merry Go-Round. "What?" She asked innocently smiling at him "I don't have candy apple on my face, do I?" she began swiping her finger over her cheeks.

He shook his head and held out his hand. She grinned and took it. Riding this silly ride was the first time they had been somewhat alone in almost a week. Wyatt swallowed hard as he fought the nerves that were suddenly building in his chest. He leaned over on his horse so she could hear him over the pipe organ music. "Lucy, I know we're doing this completely backwards, but I was just wondering if maybe you'd want to –" he coughed suddenly and looked around as if to see if anyone was listening.

As he turned back to her shot her a devilish smirk. "Lucy Preston, will you go on a date with me?"

Lucy's face went from complete shock to utter amusement in about two seconds flat. She giggled in spite of herself. Wyatt was still smirking at her, eyebrows raised in expectation of her answer. Lucy caught sight of this and shook herself free of her giddiness. "Oh" she exclaimed "were you – were you being serious?"

Wyatt felt like an explanation was in order. The ride was stopping so he helped her down and they removed themselves to a quiet-ish park bench away from the crowds and the carnival music. He held both of her hands in his, startled by the anxiety he heard in his own voice, "Listen, Lucy….I know we haven't had a chance to talk since that night in the hall and I don't know if you meant to kiss me or if you even remember doing it – "

Lucy tilted her head at him and then suddenly leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He looked back at her in pleasant surprise. "I remember, Wyatt."

He smiled at her, "Good." For a moment, he was at a complete loss for words. The kiss to his cheek and the fact that she had just admitted that she had meant to kiss him the other night, sent his heart and his mind reeling. She squeezed his hand and called him back to his senses. "Listen, I don't want to mess things up with us more than I already have. I want to do this right – I want to take this slow." He gently cupped her jaw in one of his hands and tilted his forhead to hers. "I want to take you on a damn date, complete with flowers and a nice dinner and MAYBE if I haven't screwed up too bad, I can give you a kiss at the end of the night. I don't want to talk about Rittenhouse or time travel or any of the crap we deal with every day. I want to talk about you. I want to talk about me." She pulled back slightly and looked at him with surprise – Wyatt Logan talking about himself? Wyatt seemed to read the expression on her face. "I want to talk about us. You deserve that, Lucy." She blinked at him, unable to quite process what was happening. Since she hadn't objected to anything yet, Wyatt plowed on, "If I can get Rufus to give me a solid, I'd like to take you out tomorrow. Unless you, ya know – have plans?" He gave her a small smirk.

Lucy smiled and it made Wyatt's nerves disappear. With their lives in chaos all the time, she had never even considered a date…a normal date…as a possibility. Dating Wyatt? Well, after the last couple of months, that seemed even less likely. Yet here they were, sitting on a park bench together in 1945, making plans to do just that. "Wyatt, of course I'll go on a date with you." She hesitated. "But don't we have to get back tomorrow?"

"That's just the thing. That bucket of bolts only has two more jumps left before it needs to recharge, meaning that once it takes the first group back, it's going to have to recharge for a while before making its trip back here, so that the next group can take the trip back…otherwise we'd be stuck here indefinitely. I figure, we let Mason, Flynn, Rufus and Jiya go on that first trip while you and I stay behind for our date. Rufus can pick us up later that evening."

Wyatt had really thought this through and she was beyond flattered. He wanted to go on a date with her and if Rufus agreed, which Lucy had no doubt he would, they could actually pull it off like a regular couple. No Rittenhouse, no bunker, no military rations – a date in New York City, no less – in her favorite era. The idea of being stuck in 1945 indefinitely didn't sound like a bad idea. If it meant dates with Wyatt Logan, she would gladly take up permanent residence. The prospect of being together, alone, away from everyone and everything connected to their reality was more than anything she had ever wished for, but suddenly she was afraid. She suddenly realized that her entire relationship with Wyatt, had always been connected to the mission. They had never known each other outside of this assignment. What if they didn't have anything to talk about? What if at the end of all of this, he thought she was the boring nerd she always believed herself to be? Her self-doubt was rising by the second. She bowed her head and gave a nervous laugh, lifting her eyes to his face. "You're absolutely sure you want to go out on the town with me, Sergeant?"

Wyatt once again, tilted his forehead to meet hers as he whispered, "Yes, ma'am."

She sighed and smiled. "It's a date, then."

Rufus did not need to be convinced to give Wyatt the extra time for their evening together. Jiya made Lucy buy a new dress and helped her with her hair and makeup before she, Rufus, Flynn and Mason hopped in a cab and headed off to the small little bus depot in the woods of New Jersey, near the time machine. "See you at midnight" Rufus winked at Wyatt as he saw them off in the taxi. Wyatt grabbed a bouquet from the florist shop and ran into the hotel.

He leapt over stairs two at a time and made it to the room formerly occupied by Lucy and Jiya and knocked on the door.

Lucy's hair was curled and pinned back partially, her dark locks bouncing gracefully on her bare shoulders. The dress she wore was an off the shoulder deep blue evening gown that was breathtaking against her ivory skin. Wyatt's mouth hung slightly ajar as he handed her the bouquet of flowers. "You look incredible." He managed to squeak out. She blushed and smiled at him. "Why, thank Mr. Logan." He offered her his arm. As she slid her arm through his she hugged herself against him, "So, where are you taking me on our very first date?"

He smirked at her. They had six hours, six hours to have the best damn date they could have and Wyatt wanted it to be something she would always remember – he just hoped they could have time for all that he had planned "I snagged us tickets for that musical you wanted to see. The rest, is going to be a surprise.

Lucy was amazed that Wyatt sat through an entire musical without once rolling his eyes or falling asleep. For as much as he and the rest of the boys had protested when she had listed her choices, she couldn't help but smile as he sat next to her, holding her hand and was even more astonished when she caught him humming a tune or two. They left the theatre arm in arm, Wyatt ushering her into another cab as they set off for their next destination.

They arrived at the Ritz-Carlton for dinner and Lucy was beyond impressed. They were seated a small table in the midst of a ballroom filled with elegant couples swaying to the music of a 1940s band.

If Lucy was nervous about not having anything to talk about, her fears were quickly allayed. She teased him about his secret love of musical theatre. He teased her about her singing along to all of the songs and told her that she had missed her calling. On and on they went, talking about everything and anything like they were just like any other couple in the world and suddenly Lucy felt a pang as reality slowly started to set in.

Wyatt noticed the abrupt change in her features and grasped her hand. "What's wrong, Lucy?"

She smiled at him, "I know we aren't supposed to talk about Rittenhouse or any of it tonight, but I was just thinking of how much I'm going to miss this when we go back tonight."

Wyatt couldn't help but agree with her. These past few days with a carefree Lucy had Wyatt more in love with her than ever. He was painfully reminded of the last time he had seen her laugh, smile and sing. It was four years ago from their present situation - 1941, only a few months in reality, but feeling like a lifetime of heartache, pain, separation and longing that could not be ignored. His guilt was fresh in his mind, but somehow going to the theater, frolicking at Coney Island, touring New York City, in short, doing something so normal was refreshing and rejuvenating. This past week had been so oddly different from anything they had ever done together since the first day they met, that couldn't help but feel as if this was a glimpse of another life, another time. What they could've been, should've been without time machines, Rittenhouse, and undead wives.

As they ate their dinner, Wyatt felt brave enough to approach the topic he had been avoiding like the plague since that night in the hotel. He didn't want to bring it up, but he knew if they were going to have any kind of future together, he was going to have to address the proverbial elephant in the room. "Lucy," he coughed. She looked up at him expectantly, her beautiful doe-like eyes fixed on his. "I know – I know you think I chose Jessica over you."

She swallowed hard. She wasn't expecting this conversation again. Not here. Not now. She began to fidget, but Wyatt grabbed her free hand, pleading with her silently to stay and hear him out.

"When I got that message, Lucy – I was just so shocked – I wasn't thinking straight. I ran out before I even realized what I was doing, what I had done. I was suddenly married, my wife was alive and I – I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry, Lucy. I never meant to make you feel like you were second best. You never were. I never stopped loving you."

Lucy set down her fork, her eyes fixed on the table. A jolt of panic went through Wyatt's heart when he spied a tear slide down her cheek. Shit. He made her cry on their first date. This isn't the way he had planned this night at all. "Lucy, I'm – I'm sorry I shouldn't have said – "

She looked up at him sadly and held his hand, "Thank you, Wyatt." He breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't blame you for what you did – for leaving, I mean. I think of what I would've done if that had been Amy." She stopped, unsure of whether she had the courage to say what she wanted to say next. "I should've fought harder for you. I didn't know that you - well you know..." she sighed heavily. "You told me that night in the hall that you knew you loved me after that kiss in 1934. That you came to me before you stole the LifeBoat because you wanted to see me one last time. I – I just" she bit her lower lip and looked away from him as she whispered, "I didn't know, Wyatt. I just always thought that I could never compare to her. When you told me she was back, I - I just went on the defensive...I never imagined I could be an option..that you would ever choose me, so I took myself off the table...to make it easier for you."

Wyatt stood up and offered her his hand while he gently tugged her out of her seat and pulled her onto the dance floor. His hand rested on the small of her back while his other hand held hers close to his heart. They swayed back and forth to Star Dust, the melancholy notes of the music perfectly capturing the sense of love and longing between them. Lucy's head was tilted gently against Wyatt's cheek. "Lucy, that day I told you I had no regrets back in the bunker? That was a lie." She pulled away from him slightly. "I regretted every damn minute that I wasn't spending with you."

"Wyatt – "

"No, Lucy, I need to say this – please. I loved Jessica…not this Rittenhouse version of her…but my Jessica, but the truth of that matter is Lucy, I idealized so much of our marriage. She died because we had had another fight. It was a stupid fight, but it was bad enough that I left her there on the side of that road. It should have never gotten to that point, Lucy. Our marriage wasn't working…but I lied to myself – and I kept on lying to myself even after she died."

'Why?"

Wyatt sighed. "Guilt and I don't know, maybe because I didn't want to be like my dad – a world class sonofabitch who ruined his family with his alcohol and his temper." Wyatt sighed "And then when she came back and she told me what a terrible husband I had been, I stupidly and selfishly wanted to make it right. Not for Jessica, but for me." He looked at her with shame etched all over his face. "Me, Lucy. God, I was so damn selfish. I had grieved six years and put my marriage on a damn pedestal only to be told that I would've screwed it up anyway – and my pride couldn't take it. I had to prove I was better than that, that I could somehow make myself not be the asshole I was – and in the end, I became an even bigger asshole, because I hurt the one person that I loved more than anything, the person who saved me when I was ready to throw it all away." He hung his head down, not daring to look at her. "Lucy, I'll never not be sorry for that. I could live through every century a hundred times and still hate myself for hurting you. You should have never felt less than Jessica. You never were. If I had been honest with myself...and with you...you never would have felt that way."

Lucy, sensing Wyatt giving into brooding thoughts, decided to lighten the mood. She gave him a devilish smirk, "So what you're saying is that you would steal a time machine to save me?" she teased.

Wyatt laughed, "When I lost you for six weeks, I almost went insane. Agent Christopher almost court martialed me."

Lucy gasped in surprise. "You're kidding."

"Nope. You can ask Rufus. I even stole his grinder and tried to cut through the door to find you."

Lucy leaned her head against his again, "But you did find me."

Wyatt hugged her closer to him, "Yes, I did." He sighed. "Thank God."

Lucy leaned back and gently stroked his face with her fingers, tilting his face to hers. The entire evening had been like a dream. She couldn't have planned a more perfect evening. Wyatt, for all of his talk of screw ups and not ever being enough, had managed to sweep her completely off of her feet. She wanted to express how grateful she was to him, how deeply she felt for him, but her voice caught in her throat. Her eyes flickered to his lips as they moved impossibly close to one another. Her lips were hovering just above his, as he breathed her in, closing his eyes in anticipation of the sweetness of her kiss. Their hearts were pounding and the entire room seemed to disappear around them. She let out a soft moan as his lips grazed hers when an all too familiar voice shook them out of their reverie.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Lucy shuddered as Wyatt breathed out a curse.

Jessica.