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Lucy’s head was spinning. A damp, musty scent filled her nose - and a few heartbeats later, a dark room swam into focus. The only light was coming from a light bulb dangling from the ceiling of what appeared to be an old storage room. It was spacious, with old crates piled up in one corner.
Lucy realized she was lying on her back on a cold concrete floor. She tried to bring a hand up to stop her head from pounding, but she discovered her wrists were bound together in front of her. An attempt to move her legs confirmed her ankles were also bound together.
“Lucy?” the worry in that voice made her heart flutter.
She turned her head to see Wyatt’s face hovering over her. His usually bright blue eyes were dull from exhaustion and fear. Bruises dotted his face, and a large cut was covered in drying blood on his forehead.
“Wyatt?” Lucy pushed herself into a sitting position. “What happened?”
“Emma and her goons happened.”
“Where are we?”
“Some abandoned warehouse in 1950s San Francisco.”
Now she remembered. She remembered the alarms blaring, indicating Emma had jumped. Seeing as the date didn’t jump out to anybody, the assumed it was a trap. But they also all agreed it was a trap worth springing if it meant catching Emma and Jessica. The duo had managed to piss off a fair amount of people with their actions in Chinatown. But they still had the Mothership - so they were able to maintain some control over Rittenhouse. With Rufus once again with the Time Team, the group hoped they could outnumber Emma’s team and knock her off balance.
It didn’t work.
“Rufus and Flynn?”
“Hopefully coming up with a halfway decent plan to find us,” Wyatt informed her. “I love Rufus, but for once - as much as it pains me to admit it - I think our hopes are with Flynn at the moment.”
“How long ago did we get captured?”
“I’ve been up for about 45 minutes. Not sure how long I was out. That bitch used chloroform on us.”
Lucy remembered. The group had split up to cover more ground and scope out Emma’s movements. Rufus agreed to go with Flynn while Wyatt went with Lucy. He may have been avoiding her in the present, after his bombshell confession last week - but he refused to leave her side in the past. Lucy wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it, but she felt safe with him so she rolled with it.
“What happened to you?” she asked, eyeing his bruises.
“Emma paid us a visit while you were still unconscious,” he admitted, his voice tight.
“Was she alone?”
Lucy didn’t need to say the name. Wyatt knew who she was referring to, and the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know.
“She stood by and let her do that to you?”
Lucy felt rage wash over her like a wave; she knew Jessica was evil, but she was sure the woman had at least cared for Wyatt.
“Lucy -”
“Don’t you dare defend her,” Lucy couldn’t keep her anger in check.
“I’m not about to defend the woman who used my face as a punching bag.”
“Jessica did this to you?”
Lucy brought her hands up to brush a finger along one of the lighter bruises on his cheek. His breath caught, and she jerked her hand away, mumbling an apology.
“You didn’t hurt me Lucy,” he assured her. “I’ve been through a hell of a lot worse than this. I’m more worried about you.”
He was avoiding discussing Jessica. Lucy decided to let him get away with it - for now.
“I’m not the one who took a beating,” she pointed out. “What are we going to do?”
“As much as I hate it - our best option is to wait,” he sighed, holding up his bound wrists. “Emma got good with knots. Without a knife, I’m stuck.”
“Think you could get mine undone?”
“Already tried while you were still out. She’s got my hands tied so tight I can’t get a good enough grip.”
Lucy offered to try his knot, but it ended with the same result. She gave up and readjusted her position so she was sitting beside him, their backs against the wall.
“Now that I think about it,” she wondered aloud. “Why did she tie our hands in the front?”
“One of her idiot sidekicks,” he informed her with a smirk. “All brawn, no brain.”
Lucy sighed and let her head fall back against the wall. Despite being in a spacious room, she felt the familiar claws of claustrophobia creeping up her spine. She wasn’t sure why. She just suddenly felt so trapped. She took a few deep breaths, pushing back the feeling.
“Lucy?”
She shook her head and took a few more deep breaths.
“We’ll be alright,” Wyatt promised her. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”
That got her attention. She turned to him, confusion in her eyes.
“How in the hell are you taking the blame for this?”
“I let them get the drop on us,” he said with a shrug. “And I don’t currently have a plan to get us out of here.”
Wyatt wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he almost preferred they were trapped here. She was out of the direct line of fire, and he could keep her safe. Well, safer than she could be with Flynn, he convinced himself.
“They drugged us,” Lucy stated. “Pretty sure not even Delta Force can train you to be invincible to that.”
He smirked, which got her to laugh softly. Wyatt loved that sound - he hadn’t heard it enough lately. Another thing he was currently blaming himself for.
“What?”
Oops. He’d been staring. He sighed.
“It’s nice to see you smile again.”
Yeah, because this is the place to go down that road, he thought. Smooth one, soldier. She shot him a questioning look, so he plowed on:
“I really am sorry Lucy,” he said softly. “And not just for this mess.”
Realization flashed through her eyes as he continued.
“I had no right to unload all of that on you last week. Not after everything I’ve put you through.”
“Wyatt you don’t need to apologize for trying to save your marriage. Or for being honest with me.”
“I should have never have left that damn bunker,” he sighed, letting his head fall back against the wall.
“You would have regretted it for the rest of your life if you didn’t try. Now you know.”
She was right, of course. She always was. “You’re way to understanding, you know?”
She gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, I know.”
Before he could continue - he heard something outside of their makeshift prison. He saw her entire body tense up, so he knew she heard it too.
“Lay back down Lucy,” he ordered quietly. “Don’t move and don’t make a sound.”
She shimmied back down to the floor, shooting him a terrified look before closing her eyes. He could see her shaking.
“Even breaths Luce,” he whispered.
Thankfully, she regained control as sounds of a scuffle grew louder. Wyatt tensed, ready for another round of questioning from Rittenhouse’s new rogue duo. The fight outside went quiet, and Wyatt feared the worst. Had they found the others? But when he heard a familiar voice call out his name, he let go of the breath he was holding.
“In here Rufus!”
Lucy’s eyes flew open with relief. She had just managed to get back into a sitting position when the door flew open.
“Thank god,” Rufus smiled as he rushed to cut his friends loose; Flynn backed into the room behind him, keeping his gun trained on the door. “What the hell happened to you two? And what happened to your face?”
“Guys,” Flynn cut in. “Escape now, questions later.”
For once, Wyatt agreed and accepted a spare handgun from Flynn. The group wove their way out of the warehouse and back to the Lifeboat. A few hours later, they were safely back in the Bunker. After a debrief with Agent Christopher, and a round of showers for the time travelers - Wyatt found Lucy stretched out on her bed with a book. He bit back a smile when he noticed she had stolen one of his flannel shirts.
“Hey,” he leaned against the door frame. “You feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” she closed her book and pushed it aside. “You’re the one who took a beating.”
“I’ve survived worse,” he reminded her with a shrug.
She pushed herself into a sitting position and rested with her back against the wall. She beckoned him inside, patting the spot beside her. He tugged the door closed behind him and settled down beside her.
“I love you too, you know.”
Wyatt’s head snapped toward her so fast he swore he might have had whiplash.
“I didn’t say it back because I was scared,” she continued, staring at her hands on her lap. “Seeing our future selves was so … weird. Then we were saving Rufus and then there was another mission and I was worried she would be there. Which she was, of course. But then you said she did that to you and I just … I don’t know. Pretty sure I’m not making any sense.”
“Lucy …”
She finally looked up to meet his eyes. There were a thousand emotions there, most of which he couldn’t really identify.
“I guess I finally realized I don’t want to wast any time,” she sighed. “We’re all walking targets. Loosing Rufus drove that point home. And I saw what it did to Jiya. And you and I have lost enough time as is. Does that make any sense?”
“More than you know,” he smiled sadly. “I am so sorry Lucy.”
“No, I’m not blaming you. I’m the one who practically pushed you into her arms.’
“You are not taking any blame for this,” Wyatt’s voice was stern.
“I think we both need to stop taking the blame and just move past it. You needed to at least try with her, otherwise you would have hated yourself. You would have always wondered. And now we know.”
He could easily argue that this was still entirely his fault, but he held his tongue as she continued.
“Nothing ahead but the open road, right?”
He smiled, remembered when he’d given her that same advice in the cramped trunk of a classic car. And he’d wanted to do something then, but was interrupted.
“At the risk of tempting fate - can I kiss you?”
She chuckled and nodded. He brought his hand up to cup the side of her face, his thumb stroking her cheek as he brought his lips to hers.
“I love you so much,” he said softly, pulling away to lean his forehead against hers. “Also, did I just get to kiss you without Rufus barging in?”
“Shall we tempt fate a bit more?” his heart beat a bit faster at her words.
“What did you have in mind, ma’am?”
She shrugged innocently, making Wyatt’s smile grow even wider. He took matters into his own hands, gently tugging her onto his lap. He kissed her shoulder where the button down had slipped away. He worked his way up her neck, enjoying the soft sigh of pleasure that tumbled from her lips. When he finally reclaimed her lips, her fingers ended up tangled in his hair. He was so lost in her he didn’t hear the door open …
But he did hear Jiya clear her throat rather loudly.
Lucy buried her face in his neck - but made no move to slip from his lap, so he kept his arms wrapped tightly around her.
“Hello Jiya,” he said calmly, ignore the huge smirk plastered on her face.
“Don’t mind me,” their friend giggled. “I’ll just grab my shower stuff and be on my way. I’m assuming it’s okay if I crash with Rufus tonight?”
“Yes,” Lucy answered before Wyatt could.
“Goodnight you two,” Jiya laughed, closing the door behind her.
“Every damn time,” Wyatt barely managed to huff before Lucy captured his lips once again.