Chapter Text
Her lungs were screaming when she finally managed to crawl out of the Lifeboat.
It was only because of Flynn that she didn't fall face first into the ground.
“Hey, hey. I got you” he muttered, voice hoarse from inhaling the smoke that the machine was spitting at them. She was trying to take a proper breath herself as he held her.
“Are you okay?” Lucy heard the sound of Jiya’s worried voice question. “What happened there?”
Having been brought here first by a desperate Rufus, the techie had no idea of the shooting that had happened at the bunker.
There had been a breach. Rittenhouse had sent a couple of its men to their hiding place. Rufus had panicked when he heard the front door alarm go off. He grabbed Jiya and
Jessica - the only two nearby at the time - and got them back in time, then forced the ship to return.
Once back at the bunker, he found Wyatt and Flynn in the middle of a gunfight with the agents. The engineer got Lucy and the men out of there. And hoped Denise and Connor
would only arrive after the agents were gone.
“Where are we?” Wyatt questioned once he managed to catch his breath.
“Scotland,” Jessica said. “1740s” The time team turned to the woman. “From what I got, this Rittenhouse has people all over the US, so it's safer to be away from now”
“She's right,” Lucy said with a nod. “It's not perfect, but it's something”
“For a Lebanese immigrant, a black man and a tree of a Croatian man?” Rufus hardly believed he had to ask.
“As long as you're not a witch or English, we'll probably be fine” the historian commented.
“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!” a voice came and the team turned to find a woman eyeing the Lifeboat.
“Shit!” Wyatt cursed, his hand and Flynn's going instinctively to their guns.
The dark-haired woman approached. “What is this?” her British accent didn't go unnoticed.
“Ah… Lucy?” Rufus attempted nervously looking at the historian.
“Ma’am, I'm gonna have to ask to stop where you are,” Wyatt said.
The woman faced him, then the others as if finally noticing their presence. “What are you even wearing?” something on her face shifted and she faced Lucy. “You're not from this
time, are you?”
There was a moment of silence since neither of them knew what to answer.
“What? No!” Rufus gave a nervous laugh, “This is the new French fashion”
“It is not” the Englishwoman replied calm as ever, studying him with a small smile. “The blond over there has the mark of the smallpox vaccine in her arm” she gestured to
Jessica who happened to be wearing a tank top. “So, when are you from?”
Another pause.
“2018” Lucy finally told.
“Lucy…” Wyatt muttered.
“If she were Rittenhouse she would have sneaked up on us and threatened one of us”
“Rittenhouse?” the stranger questioned.
“No one you want to know” Flynn clarified. “When are you from?”
“1940s… Has there been another war?”
“World War? No, not at all. At least not officially” Lucy informed, leaving some complications out of her answer.
The woman nodded slowly. “I have some questions, but I doubt it’s a good idea to leave this so exposed” she indicated the Lifeboat with her chin, arms crossed on her chest.
“Yeah…” Wyatt agreed quietly, shifting a bit.
“You better hide it. And you’ll need some clothes. All of you.”
“It’s quite okay, we usually, just… Well, steal them” Rufus confessed, hands on his back pockets.
“We can use other means,” the woman said, her attention turning to Flynn. “May I borrow you? Your accent will keep some questions away” she turned to Lucy, “Is this alright?
I’m sure he’s armed enough not to be in any danger”
“And they’re not married” Carlin coughed.
“Oh, well, this complicates things a bit, but we’ll handle this later” she stated, turned to Flynn. “What should I call you?”
“Flynn” he answered.
“A good Irish name, but I don’t think it matches your looks or the accent. Where are you from?”
“Soviet Union” Lucy was quick to answer.
“Are you a communist?”
Garcia smirked. “Not at all, ma’am”
“Alright… Well, we’ll just say you’re from the east. Do you speak the language?”
“I speak enough of them”
“Do you speak Gaelic?”
“No”
“Russian?”
“Yes”
“That will have to do” she conceded with a shrug. “I’m Claire, by the way. Claire Fraser”