Chapter Text
Even with an ice pack pressed against her cheek, Lucy could still feel Garcia’s forehead on hers. With eyes closed, and her desperately clinging to him, they were close enough to share the same breath of air. It was as if he had been breathing for her. She could still smell him, and even taste him a little. His familiar, comforting scent had lingered with her for the better part of the last 4 hours. She was almost sad to have washed it off.
But she had to. After Flynn cradled her, she noticed he had bled on her. Oddly, she didn’t mind. She cared more about making sure he was okay. The ordeal made her wonder if she would lose him next; She tried to shake the horror of that thought away. Trying to empty her mind, Lucy began to feel the sensation of Garcia around her. She was still overwhelmed by the feel of his body cradling her as she broke like a glass house. The mere thought of him made warmth creep up her neck and behind her ears. If she weren’t so tired, maybe she would have been shocked.
She also felt another sort of warmth. Desire… Desire to see him again, to have him hold her again. To breathe him in again. But, she was tired and weak. She couldn’t possibly have that conversation tonight- she had just lost one of her best friends and her mother. As much as she desired to feel secure in Garcia’s arms, she knew it wouldn’t be fair to him to ask that. He was vulnerable, too. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way. Maybe he didn’t intend for her to bond with him the way she did.
Maybe he was just trying to get her off the ground and she was too limp and overwhelmed to comply. Yes, yes that must have been why he was holding her so close. That must have been it…
Suddenly Lucy noticed a pant leg in front of her. Half-hoping it would be Garcia, she slowly looked up to find Wyatt looking down at her. His face was expressionless. She assumed hers was equally so. Looking at the ground she almost hoped he would walk away. Talking was too much work. He sat down.
“This is my fault… All of it.” Wyatt stated bluntly.
“No, it's not Wyatt-” She started.
“I promised Rufus that I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. I was supposed to protect him.”
Lucy could feel a stem of frustration growing within her. She was mourning the loss of her best friend along with the loss of her mother… She couldn’t find the energy to console him right now. She just didn’t have it in her.
“And then I messed everything up.” Lucy felt relieved, with Wyatt doing all the talking. Even though being interrupted was usually a significant pet peeve of hers. “Just like I did with us.”
It was odd Lucy found his comment more humorous than anything else. It was true, he did mess everything up between the two of them… and she told him so. She then told him that Rufus knew what he was getting into.
“You brought Jiya home- safe, That’s what mattered most to Rufus.” She ended her speech with that. Finding it a little odd that she could muster the energy to comfort someone right now…
“I love you, Lucy.” Wyatt mournfully stated. “You don’t have to say it back, you don’t have to say anything…”
Lucy realized as Wyatt continued to talk, that if she had answered, she didn’t know what she would say. Did she love Wyatt?
“In a way… “ Her mind told her.
But not in that way. Not in the way he wanted. Not anymore.
Wyatt Logan had thoroughly destroyed her- and Lucy had learned a long time ago that when something eats you up and spits you out, you starve yourself of it until you never want it again. She felt sad for Wyatt. But, she was a different person now- largely due to his own actions. She sensed Wyatt could feel that though. She glad that there was no expectation for her to respond in kind. Instead, she changed the subject.
“I can’t believe he is gone.” She stated. “And my mother… I thought I could save her. Change her mind, and Emma just, she just ended her-”
Lucy was cut off again, but this time it wasn’t by Wyatt. It was by the unmistakable sound of a Time Vessel staking a claim on the landing bay. Lucy’s heart raced. Why didn’t they get a notification if the mothership jumped? Were they being attacked? She jumped up and saw Garcia already headed toward the ship that had displaced their own.
It wasn’t the Mothership. It was another Lifeboat. She wondered if it could be Rufus. She vaguely heard Agent Christopher and Conor say something. Garcia echoed her thoughts, that it was another lifeboat. Not sure what to expect and feeling tense, Lucy held her breath.
The door opened, and out stepped a wild looking man. It was unmistakably Wyatt. He had a beard, and his clothes were dirty. He looked as if he lived in the trenches during World War One. There was someone behind him. As the figure emerged, Lucy felt her gut tighten… She was looking at herself. Aside from the dirty clothing, She looked good. Healthy, actually. Her hair was straight and a little shorter. She was muscular. She looked strong. Rufus would have said ‘Dude what’s with Lucy Croft, she looks scary strong.’
Without making eye contact with her, the other Lucy surveyed around. And her eyes came to rest just above Lucy’s head. She could feel that she wasn’t looking at her.
“Well, what are you waitin’ on.” The bearded Wyatt stated.
“Do you want to get Rufus back or what?” The Lara Croft version of Lucy asked.
⇹
Everyone at the landing bay stared up at the twosome. After their dramatic entrance had grown stale, they jumped down from their Life Boat. Lucy found herself turning around to see what Lucy Croft had been eyeing. Behind her, she found an awestruck Garcia Flynn. “Is this her?” She whispered up to him.
Garcia broke his gaze to look down at her. Lucy could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes. He blinked them back and just nodded. Biting his lower lip slightly, Flynn proceeded to gaze down at her with the most tender expression she had ever seen. He looked as if he had just been told his cancer was cured, or that all his prayers had been heard and answered.
Looking at her, He looked relieved.
Trying not to get caught up in his almost religiously awestruck expression, she turned around to find Lucy Croft and herself nose to nose. “We need to talk.” the doppelganger said, but she wasn’t looking at her, she was looking at Garcia. “We need to get on the same page… It’s been awhile, I assume. I mean I saw you three trips ago, probably a week ago for me. But, we didn’t need to come here until we saw what had happened.”
“What do you mean what had happened?” Jiya asked the question. Croft looked at her, and her eyes softened. “Jiya, you had to have seen us coming…” She smiled coyly “Either way, Wyatt and I got back from a mission, and Rufus was gone… You were there. When we asked you what had happened, you told us all the details about his death.” She looked back up at Garcia. She squeezed past Lucy and stood a little too close to Garcia for everyone’s taste. Especially for the Lucy behind her, who noticed she was suddenly feeling strangely possessive.
“This wasn’t supposed to have happened.” Lucy Croft lowered her voice. “We need to talk. Now.” Garcia Just nodded, with eyes averted (as if he knew what he was in trouble for), and motioned for her to follow him.
Lucy realized she was suddenly jealous… Of herself. What the hell?
Wondering what they were going to talk about was eating Lucy up inside. But, she fought the desire to go and try to listen in. Mainly because other Wyatt started talking.
“You like my beard?” He grinned, looking at Wyatt. “Took a little patience, but we wanted you to have the ability to tell us apart... Considering that fact that I haven’t aged a day in years.” The Wyatt standing by Lucy gulped audibly. “Um… Where are you from?” Wyatt stammered.
“Or, rather, when are you from?” Mason interrupted, having clearly gathered himself enough to take some charge of the situation.
“2023.” He stated. “Hey so, I think I caught a whiff of myself. Any chance I could shower here, maybe get some new threads?” Current Wyatt’s eyes bugged at the blunt confession. He blushed with embarrassment. Gathering himself, he said “uh, sure yeah… I guess you can use my stuff. That is if that’s okay with everyone here?” He looked around to see if anyone protested the idea of his future self showering in the bunker. No one did. “Right this way, I guess.” He walked away, occasionally glancing back to make sure his future self wasn’t about to do something weird, violent, or stupid, no doubt.
Lucy turned to see the rest of the eyes on her. She looked at Jiya, “Did you have a vision about this?” She questioned.
“Um… No, not of this.” Jiya responded, shaking her head, eyes bugging. Her expression and the tone of her voice told Lucy that she had a vision of something, though.
Gathering herself, Agent Christopher sighed. “Lucy, do you know what other Lucy was talking about with when she told Flynn ‘This wasn’t supposed to have happened’?”
Lucy swallowed hard. She shook her head. She figured it best to confess the truth, even if she didn’t know how it applied to this. “My future self, um… About a week ago, I asked Flynn where he got the journal from. You know, the one that I wrote. He told me that I- about five years older- I came to him two weeks after his family was killed. And gave it to him. That’s why I asked him if it was her.”
"Very well,” Christopher said. “I guess we wait until we know what’s happening.” Agent Christopher resigned herself to that plan, with arms crossed and lips pursed.
Face beaming with curiosity, Mason walked over to the new Lifeboat, and Jiya followed. “Amazing!” He said with his British accent ringing out. It was odd to hear enthusiasm after everything that had happened lately. Lucy told Christopher she was going to go and talk to Flynn.
As she approached Garcia’s bedroom door, she hesitated. She heard a raised voice, it was her own. “When I gave you the journal, I told you what to do. I assumed you would have had the opportunity many times… Benedict Arnold? The Rittenhouse meeting during the Red Scare? Why didn’t you take those opportunities? I need to know.”
Lucy heard Garcia sigh heavily. Like he did when he was about to explain something that he did, that he knew no one in the room would agree with.
“I knew I could get her, or rather, I could get you, on my side. I mean, dammit, you are from the future. You had to have known what would happen- why I couldn’t do it.”
“It’s not about sides, Garcia!” Future Lucy hissed. “It’s about safety and what had to happen. I trusted you with my life.”
“And what exactly happened that made you hesitate with this Lucy? It better be nothing, Garcia. I told you not to do that. I told you not to get close. And now you are living with her? Are you two together?”
Now Lucy could hear Garcia taking in deep breaths. He sounded like he was getting upset.
“Technically, I have met you- what? One time? And then now, you come barreling into our home as if I am your spy? I didn’t agree with what you asked me to do. I just listened.” There was a tense moment. “Every day that I have lived with this Lucy- My Lucy- has made me a better person.” Garcia was nearly shouting. “I regret nothing.” He sounded as though he may breathe fire at any moment.
The Lucy in the other room seemed to loosen up. She deflated, and her anger seemed to diminish with Garcia’s every word. She looked at him as if she wanted to save him. She looked sad.
“The future of you and I, the future in that journal. That wasn’t supposed to happen, not again. With my plan, you would have Lorena and Iris back. You wouldn’t have lost me, because you never would have had me. None of this would have happened. None of it.” Her forehead collapsed into her hand.
“I was going to do it. I was. But then I saw her at The Hindenburg. She looked so scared. So scared of me. I said too much. After that, I resolved to not get close. A mission is a mission, I get it. But, when we went to take care of John Rittenhouse himself, she, you. Wouldn’t let me kill his son. He got away. My Lucy told me that if I killed him, I could never be a father again. But if I didn’t, I had some shred of hope left. Some slight thread of dignity in me… After that, I kept reading the journal, kept trying to figure out a way to fulfill your “orders” without having to hurt her. But, I kept needing to work with her. It was the Red Scare trip that got me. She told me I wasn’t a monster. She, you, told me what, and who I was. I wanted nothing more than to believe that.
The thing is, Lucy. You and this Lucy, my Lucy, you two are different in some ways. She still has hope, she wants to survive. How was I supposed to take out Rittenhouse and erase her, when she didn’t want that? I just couldn’t, it’s not who I am. And it wouldn’t have been fair to her.”
“Well, that’s nice. However, when she doesn’t have you anymore, she won’t have that hope!” The Lucy in Flynn’s room snapped. "It’s a long and lonely fight without you, Garcia Flynn. I came up with this plan because my plan to save you wouldn’t work. But, now I guess I have to live with my pain.” Future Lucy’s voice choked. “I am so sorry I put you through this. I just thought, if you never got to know me, and you were still reeling from the loss of losing Lorena and Iris, that we wouldn’t happen. That you wouldn’t have blinders on. But, it is what it is, I guess.”
There was a long silence, as future Lucy grabbed Garcia’s hand and kissed it gingerly.
“Just don’t let her miss out on anything with you, okay?”
“I am not going anywhere.” Garcia’s voice became thick with emotion, making his accent stronger, Lucy felt her stomach tighten as her ears drank in his words. “I am not ever going to leave Lucy. Not as long as I can help it.”
“One day, Garcia, you won’t have the ability to help it. And it’ll be the worst pain she’s ever felt. Trust me. I know.” She let out a long breath.
“Okay, let’s get back. We need to get Rufus. I’m supposed to help Wyatt with something, and we sort of need Rufus to be alive, also some twins have never been born because of this whole ordeal. I kinda want my godchildren back.”
“Oh, and by the way, tell your team to never let him die again. Please? It messes with my plans.” Flynn let out a slight chuckle. “I guess we’ll always stay with him, too. I am sure my Lucy will understand.”
⇹
While waiting for the Jiya search party to arrive at the saloon, Lucy stared at herself, Literally. The self from five years in the future. The person that had wanted her to be dead. That wanted her to never exist. The self that was in love with Garcia Flynn? Lucy Croft must have felt her staring.
“Too trippy?” she asked, with a coy smile. Then she turned back to scouting.
“I guess, to a degree.” Lucy conceded. Mustering her courage, she added, “I heard you two talking. You and Flynn.”
“Don’t call him that. His name is Garcia, you know that. You secretly call him that in your thoughts, don’t you? This was about the time I started to.” Lucy was shocked by her candor. She honestly didn’t expect for her open up at all about it. Seizing the opportunity, she took a deep breath and readied herself for questioning- only to be cut off.
“He’s amazing, you know.” She spoke slowly “I didn’t deserve him… and his death was my fault... I didn’t cut the head off the snake when I had the chance, and the snake came back to steal everything from me.” Her hollow gaze gave Lucy an uneasy feeling.
“I only wish I would have spoken up sooner. He waited for me, you know? He watched me settle. He watched me try to be with Wyatt for almost an entire year. I knew Garcia loved me. Truth be told, I had begun to fall in love with him even before this trip. But, I tried with Wyatt. Why do we do things like that? Maybe because he was the first to say he loved me.”
She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, Wyatt’s not a bad guy. But, your baggage and his will clash- as will your methods of operation. With me, he chose Jess. Again. But, I don’t blame him. He just wanted to be a father to his daughter. It is what it is.”
“But Garcia. He is the real deal. And he really does love you.” She spoke as Lucy stared ahead at Flynn walking into the bar in his burgundy suit, along with him was another Lucy in a white and black striped dress and Wyatt. She knew what was going to happen next. Luckily, Current Garcia- Lucy’s Garcia- was already rounding out the exit with Rufus and current Jiya. Lucy shuddered as she saw Emma and Jess headed into the saloon to start a fight.
Garcia, Jiya and Rufus caught up to them. “Let's go now,” Garcia said, grabbing Lucy’s arm. Future Lucy gave her a flash of a smile. She grabbed Rufus’ arm, while Jiya had his hand. They had guns just in case. But they were hoping not to need them.
Rufus’ eyes bugged when he noticed future Lucy. “What the hell is with Lucy Croft over here?” He said, making everyone laughed under their breath.
“We’ll explain everything when we get home,” Jiya said. Lucy could tell she was a little choked up. Making it to the new Lifeboat, which seats five people, they hopped in. Rufus geeked out, while Jiya told him to strap in. “We have to leave now.”
“Who’s flying this bad boy?” Rufus asked, looking around with sheer admiration. “Ah, of course.” He said as future Lucy took her seat in pilot’s chair. “Buckle up,” she said, “It’s always a bumpy ride.”
⇹
Lucy waited, nervously in Garcia’s room. She had to talk to him. He was in the shower, but she was sure he wouldn’t mind her being there when got done. She sat in the chair he usually sat in, careful to not interfere with anything or invade his privacy. She sat there. Tired, still. She hadn’t slept at all yet- But she needed to know. She needed to know why he had lied to her about their meeting at the bar in Brazil. To fully trust him she needed to clarify a couple things.
When he walked in, she was surprised to see he just had a towel around his waist. At first he didn’t notice her. When she realized he was about to take his towel off, she spoke up.
“Um… Garcia.” She said awkwardly, with her hand half over her eyes, just in case his towel was open. He turned around, eyebrows raised. Clearly surprised to see her. He looked her up and down, and suddenly Lucy wished she wasn’t just wearing pajamas and the fluffy pink bunny slippers Jiya had gotten her for her birthday. He noticed them.
“Cute slippers.” His voice was laughter. He bit his lip slightly and then turned back around. He began to get dressed into his pajamas. Shirt first, with his towel still around his waist, He pulled on a gray henley. Lucy couldn’t help but peek as the shirt swallowed his perfectly muscular back with a swift movement. She caught his gaze in the corner of her eye. His eyebrows were arched, and he had a satisfied expression on his face.
“Can I help you with something?” He asked sarcastically, clearly enjoying the tension that his nakedness was causing. Lucy looked away, suddenly ashamed of her boldness. A minute later, he was dressed. He walked toward Lucy, it took her a moment to notice he was grabbing his deodorant, which was on the lower level of the end table next to her. He looked at her while he put it on.
“You’ve never called me that before.” He said as he put his deodorant back. His scent was intoxicating. He stood up fully. His height made Lucy even dizzier.
“That is your name, right?” Lucy asked, pretending to be perplexed. Trying to get some sense of normalcy back.
“Well, yes. But, you’ve only ever called me Flynn. Don’t get me wrong, I like how it sounds when you say it.” He smiled down at her. Lucy wasn’t sure how long they stared at one another. With a small gruff cough, he snapped her out of the trance she was in. Gathering herself, Lucy stood up.
“I need to ask you something,” she said. Flynn nodded and she proceeded. “Why did you lie to me?” Garcia’s eyes shuttered closed. In shame, no doubt. He swallowed hard. And then walked over to his bed and sat down.
“I am sorry, Lucy. I never wanted to lie to you.” He said, as his head hung in silence.
“I heard your conversation with other Lucy. She wanted you to kill me? To erase me?” As soon as she mentioned other Lucy’s wishes, Garcia’s neck snapped up.
“And you also heard I was never willing to go through with it, right?” He said earnestly. Lucy nodded. Garcia relaxed a little and continued, “as far as me lying to you. I just knew there would be no way of you trusting me without seeing that you, from the future, came to me and said those things. I knew you needed to hear it from the horse’s mouth. I was planning on coming clean if we ever got the journal back. But when future Lucy got here, she insisted she would tell you everything, after she got over the fact that I didn’t do what she had asked me to.” Standing up, he walked over to Lucy. She didn’t shrink away.
“And everything else you said?” Her gaze never wavered. Garcia walked closer. “I meant every word, Lucy.” He said without a second thought. He was close to Lucy now. His scent was making her drunk, they weren’t even touching, and she could feel his warmth inviting her to embrace.
“Garcia Flynn, do you love me?” She asked boldly. The warmest smile came over his face. He took her hand and put it on his chest, she could feel his warmth and felt secure. “So much.” He said. She could feel his heart pounding under her hand. “So much, it hurts.” He pulled her close, into an enveloping embrace. They stood like that for what seemed like a blissful eternity. After a while, Lucy looked up, her chin resting on his chest.
“I do love you,” Lucy said happily, intentionally.
Looking down at her, his smile only intensified the warmth in Lucy's cheeks, "I love you, too.”
With that, he lifted her up effortlessly and kissed her for the first time. It was soft yet strong. There was no caution, though. Merely trust. Once their lips came together, they didn’t part for most of the night. Every moment was filled with a new rush, a new discovery. With every touch, it felt as if they were rediscovering something that was ingrained into the both of them.
⇹
When morning came, Lucy was greeted with breakfast: Oatmeal, toast, coffee, and orange juice. “I wanted to make you an omelet. But, we’re out of eggs,” Garcia said apologetically. Lucy let out a breath of laughter. “I don’t need eggs, Garcia. I don’t think I need any food today.” His eyebrows arched in surprise. He started to say something, but Lucy interrupted him with a kiss. “Oh,” was all he could say before he was lost in euphoria again.