Archive of Our Own ^beta

1939. Illinois. No, it does not have any significance to him or Rittenhouse. The Mothership short circuited and they had to emergency land. By luck, they were able to land in an abandoned warehouse so they could work on the machine. Unluckily, and in Flynn's words, the tool kit that is kept on board is govno.

From underneath the Mothership, he hears a few people shuffling about and some shushing from Karl. Flynn ignores this and keeps working. A throat clears.

"Brought you something, boss." It's definitely Karl. Flynn inwardly groans. "Call it a Christmas present." Karl laughs stupidly.

Flynn continues to ignore him, manages to not tell him to sod off and focuses on his project. There's no sound or movement for several seconds. Obviously, it was not that important. As soon as he's done, Flynn was going to have a word about interrupting when it's not impor-

"Get your hands off of me!"

That makes him stop what he's doing and freeze. Was that-?

"I told you not to touch me!"

That was definitely Lucy Preston, and she was not happy. But what the hell was she doing here?

Flynn wheels out from under the machine and sees Lucy and Karl standing a few feet away. Lucy seems paler than usual, her cheeks and the tip of her nose were cherry red and there was a slight tremor in her hands. Which are cuffed. He looks to Karl, who has a smug smirk and look of satisfaction. Flynn clenches his jaw, and fist, and stands up. 

"What is she doing here?" His voice was low, and would seem calm to anyone else. However, Karl's demeanor completely changes. Shit.

"I- we, uh, found her wondering around. I-I thought—"

Lucy scoffed at the lie. They ambushed her and her team.

"No. No, you didn't think. You never do." He's still not yelling. He doesn't even seem angry. But everyone knew he was pissed. Karl would be lucky to make it out of 1939. A shiver went down Lucy's spine. "I told you... not to touch her!"

Lucy is somewhat taken aback by this. She knows by now that she is invaluable to him and that he wouldn't hurt her but he has kidnapped her before.

"Why are you still standing there? Uncuff her!" His voice raises just a little this time. "Where did you even get those?"

Karl scrambles to Lucy and searches his pockets frantically. Lucy catches a glimpse of his shit-I'm-done-for expression and her heart quickens. The cuffs weren't too tight but they definitely were not comfortable. And certainly would not be comfortable to be in indefinitely. She looks to Flynn. He catches the look in her eye immediately.

"Karl, where's the damn key?"

Karl is still digging through all of his pockets. "I-I had it right here. I don't, I can't find it. I had it right here!"

"Come this way, Karl."

It was almost cartoonish, the way Lucy could hear Karl gulp. Surely Flynn wouldn't kill him. Not in front of her at least.

Flynn just stands there for a moment, like he's contemplating something. "I gave you specific instructions to not touch her. And not only do you do just that, you handcuff her and lose the damn key!"

"They're always in the way! I thought, I figured we could-"

He doesn't finish his sentence as Flynn's fist collides with his nose before he can even blink. Lucy flinches behind him but honestly, he deserved it, she wasn't exactly sorry about it.

"Go find it! You're not leaving until you do, so I suggest you move quickly."' Karl just stands there, holding his nose. "Now!"

Lucy watches as he scurries off. She looks back at Flynn who's walking back towards the Mothership. She huffs. She's not exactly sure what she expected him to do but it wasn't to be ignored. He's digging around inside the machine, muttering phrases in his mother tongue. She looks around the building, not really sure what to do.

It's 1939 and they're stuck in Illinois. The Second World War would start in September. It's mid-January. Lucy vaguely recalls 1939 being the coldest winter in the US but she doesn't remember exactly. It definitely feels like that to her. The thought brings her back to earth and she shivers. Her toes feel like ice, her nose is runny and the cold metal cuffs were not at all helping. She walks towards the ship, finds an empty wooden crate and decides she might as well sit down.

"Why are you here?"

Flynn stops rummaging around and looks at her. "What?"

"Here. Illinois. '39." Flynn makes an 'o' with his mouth, decides he's done looking for whatever he was looking for and steps out. "When I first heard you'd jumped to 1939, I thought for sure it would be toward the end of the year. Not... this." She gestures around her.

He huffs out a laugh. He thinks about whether or not he should actually tell her why they ended up here. "We uh, we didn't plan on it actually. Something happened with the Mothership. Emergency landing."

Lucy wants to laugh but can't quite bring herself to. "That is, really unfortunate."

"Yeah." He looks at her again and then starts walking around the building, still searching for something. Lucy just watches him and brings her arms close to her chest. This continues for about five minutes before Lucy feels like she'll explode.

"What are you looking for?"

Her sudden tone change gives him a start. "Was looking for something to cut those off. Or at least apart."

Well now Lucy feels bad. He was...trying to help. Lucy sighs. "Sorry, I just-"

"No, no. You don't have any reason to apologize. I... You're freezing."

He notices how much she's shivering, her nose is still bright red and she doesn't have many layers on. He jumps into the Mothership again and grabs his coat and a blanket. "It's all I have."

He sits down next her and she immediately feels warmth coming from his body. He throws his coat around her shoulders and the blanket across her lap. She watches him, confused. His attentiveness was almost startling compared to the recent behavior she's seen him display, the havoc he can reek.

"I..I'm sorry you're here. I didn't think about the fact that you would be here too."

And now he was apologizing? Lucy didn't know what to say. "Might need a better pilot."

Flynn actually chuckles. He nods. "Uh yeah. Maybe."

Lucy remembers who she's talking to and wants to take that back. "Wait, don't kill anyone. I'm sure it wasn't their fault."

Flynn is hurt that she would immediately think that he would just off and kill someone. But, given his recent behavior, he shouldn't be surprised. He sighs. "I'm not going to kill them, Lucy. Not even Karl."

Lucy snickers at that. "Not even Karl."

Lucy is grateful for the added weight around her shoulders and the warmth provided by the coat and blanket, even if it wasn't enough to completely thaw her. Even Flynn's body heat was radiating off of him in waves, making her feel comfortable. Was he not freezing as well? He had a turtleneck and a jacket on but it was definitely not for the 20 some degrees it was here. She wanted him to scoot closer. Even if it was just a little bit. Just a little-

"Where is Wyatt? And Rufus?"

"Uh," she's startled out of her thoughts. "Shouldn’t be far if they follow the footprints in the snow. Your guys managed to sneak up behind them and knock them out. It was about the only smart thing they did considering my team could just... follow the tracks in the snow."

Flynn scoffs. "Yeah, didn't exactly bring them on for their brains." A beat. “Well... now you know I'm not here to do anything, you should really get back. We don't want you getting frostbite or something. It's about -12 out there."

"Negative 12?!"

"Well, heh, that's Celsius. I think its like... 10 in Fahrenheit. Still... cold."

(Well, he didn't want her to freeze to death. How touching. He could scoot closer if he didn't want that to happen.)

"I could take you to them. Or to the Lifeboat." He says after a moment. "I am sorry about the cuffs but that should be an easy fix in the present. I couldn't find anything here to break them with."

Lucy was too tired and too cold to walk. "They'll try and kill you."

"They'll try and kill me here, too."

“Hmm." Lucy can feel her eyes start to droop. She decides, to hell with it, and scoots closer to him herself. She lays her head on his shoulder and sighs. Finally. She mumbles, barely coherent, "You're warm."

She feels him tense up under her cheek and she swears he stops breathing. She knows she'll regret this later when Wyatt and Rufus burst in, guns blazing, and see her cuddling with the enemy but she really doesn't care right now. She doesn't know how long Flynn held his breath but she feels the rise and fall of his shoulder and his muscles relax.

"Alright, Snow White." He stands up, taking his warmth with him. Lucy blushes, finally feeling some sort of warmth in her cheeks, and feels she's overstepped. She's just about to apologize when he reaches his arms out. "May I?"

"What?"

“You need to get back before you get sick. I can carry you back."

"You don't have to do that. I'm sure I can-"

He shakes his head. "Lucy."

She sits there for a minute. She feels so cold she doesn't want to move at all, she certainly doesn't want to walk around in the snow. He was also very warm and was being very courteous. Lucy blushes again. "I... okay."

He leans down and with almost no effort, picks her up bridal style. He makes sure that the blanket stays across her and he holds the coat around her shoulders. She settles, quite comfortably, into his chest.

"Do you think you could get me to the Lifeboat?"

His voice vibrates in his chest and against her ear. Lucy nods. "Or to Wyatt and Rufus, at least."

"Alright, let's go."

Lucy remembers that he's wearing next to nothing to shield him from the cold. "Wait, are you gonna be warm enough? You're wearing hardly anything."

"I'll be fine."

“Flynn-”

“Lucy.”

Lucy isn't convinced but knows she won't be able to change his mind.

She guides them the best she can. They find Wyatt and Rufus pretty quickly.

As soon as Wyatt spotted Flynn, he raised his gun. "Put her down."

Flynn rolled his eyes and continued to hold her. "She's fine. You guys need to leave. Where's the Lifeboat?"

"Like hell. What did you do?"

"Wyatt, I am fine." Lucy feels like she should have Flynn put her down now. "You, uh, you can put me down."

"I can take you the rest of the way. You just gotta tell them off." He says it just low enough that she can hear.

Lucy really should get down and walk the rest of the way. Wyatt and Rufus are going to have too many questions if she agrees to have him carry her to the Lifeboat. Questions she doesn't want to deal with, questions she's sure she doesn't even know the answer to herself. But. She doesn't think Wyatt could carry her all the way, nor does she really want him too. Her toes feel too frozen to keep her on balance. (He's still so warm, her brain needlessly reminds her.)

"Uh," Lucy doesn't know what to do. She has three people waiting on her answer. "He's not here for anything. This is his one and only Get Out of Jail Free card." She feels Flynn breathe out of his nose, like he wants to laugh. She looks to Wyatt and he doesn't look convinced. He looks confused, in fact. She needs to add something... "And he... saved my life."

Flynn looks down at her and squints his eyes, a question in them. He nods along, however, and looks to Wyatt. "You guys need to get out of here before you, before she freezes to death." Flynn could care less if Wyatt and Rufus freeze to death.

"If he saved your life, why are you cuffed?" Rufus speaks up this time.

Lucy had almost forgotten about the cuffs. "Look, I can explain things now or we can get the hell out of here."

Wyatt slowly lowers his gun and Flynn continues walking. Wyatt and Rufus trailing several feet behind but watching with an eagle eye. What the hell?