(4/4)

"Sleeping with Rittenhouse Royalty, Wyatt, really?"

He stopped and stared at Jessica in amazement as they secluded themselves in his and Rufus's room. His stare quickly turned into an angry glare before he replied.

"Is that truly the first thing you want to say to me, right now?" He sneered.

She smirked in response. "Ah, so you are sleeping with her. Thank you for confirming that for me. Your Lucy wouldn't talk to me about it."

"What the hell are you trying to do here?" He asked in with narrowed eyes. "What is this?"

"What? I figured one more fight for old times sake," She said with a grin as she sat down on Rufus's cot.

What was happening? How was she so callous about all of this? Why was she trying to piss him off?

"Okay, you wanna fight?" He asked in a raised voice. "Let's fight. Just like we used to. Who the hell are you? Is your name really Jessica? Do I even know one real damn thing about you? Was anything we had together real? How long were you Rittenhouse?" By the time he finished he was yelling and he was certain the whole bunker could hear him.

"Wow, yeah, this is just like old times," Jessica said with a scoff. "You assuming things before I even get a chance to talk about it. Nice."

"Will you just stop being such a smart ass for one damn minute and be real here?" Wyatt asked as he pressed the heels of his hands to his forehead and willed himself to calm down. This was what she did to him. This was always what she did to him. God, did he ever remember it now.

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Look, it wasn't like that. What we had was very real, okay? I did love you. I really did. You were the only other person I met who jumped headfirst into as many things as I did with such little concern for the rules," she said with a chuckle and a fond grin. "We had some great times in the beginning and none of that was a lie. That's not how Rittenhouse works."

"Then how does it work?" He asked with a sigh as he sat down across from her on his own cot. "How did they recruit you?"

"They didn't," she told him. "I'm from a Rittenhouse family. Not a pure blooded one like your girlfriend's out there, but we've been members for a few generations now."

"Wait, what?" He asked in confusion. "But I know your parents and they aren't-"

"What? They don't act like bigoted control freaks?" She asked with a smirk. "Who does, Wyatt?"

He couldn't seem to process that. He stared at her for a long quiet moment before she finally gave up on waiting for him and continued.

"See, I broke the rules," she told him with a shake of her head. "I married an outsider. They kind of frown on that. They really, really frown on that. As in, divorce him or we'll murder him in his sleep frown on that."

"They blackmailed you?" He asked as he was finally able to understand her words again. "With me?"

"At first, yeah," she said with a sigh. "But then I made a deal with them. I'd volunteer to be a sleeper if they'd back off of you. We were already on the rocks at that point but that didn't matter to them. They'd kill you even if I hated you if for no other reason than to punish me for breaking the rules. So I made the deal. I was assigned a handler who would keep me updated on the time machine's progress. That night I went missing I was told to meet my handler on Portero Road. I thought it was just for an update but...they thought I was a loose canon or that I was going to back out of the deal so they called me in early," she told him.

Her tone softened and she looked away from him as she continued. He could see her eyes glistening as if she were holding back tears. "I honestly I had no idea how or if or when they were going to fake my death, Wyatt. If I'd have known...I-Goddammit-I'm just sorry. I never meant for any of that to come back on you the way it did. I know that must have killed you, I don't even know how you're still so...sane right now," she said as she managed to meet his eyes.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't doubt her story. Her eyes were hurt and regretful and extremely honest. But that didn't mean all was forgiven. She'd still lied to him and betrayed him and left him broken. Which reminded him of the brilliant historian probably anxiously waiting for him in the common room, right at this very moment.

He looked away from Jessica and smiled softly before he replied to her. "You can thank Lucy and Rufus for that. They saved me. This assignment saved me."

"Well, I'm grateful you found them then," she said quietly. "You never deserved to live with the guilt I caused you. I hope they showed you that."

"Little by little, yeah, they did," he admitted.

"I know I pressed your buttons earlier," she said apologetically. "About Lucy. It was just more fun to fight with you then to have this conversation so...seemed like an easy target."

He quirked a brow at her and smirked slightly. "You weren't wrong."

"Just...be careful, okay?" Jessica said in a warning tone. "She's pureblood Rittenhouse. They are not going to want her with anyone who isn't one of them."

His brow furrowed. "She's been engaged before and they didn't do anything about it," he told her. He hated to say that but it was technically true.

Jessica let out a bitter chuckle. "Yeah? Then that guy was probably Rittenhouse. No way the Powers That Be let the little princess marry someone who's unworthy of her bloodline. Trust me. I know these people."

Wyatt's eyes narrowed as he thought about it but eventually he gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged. "Makes sense I guess. The guy was a total douchebag."

"Or," Jessica said as she gave him a knowing smile. "You were a jealous idiot and hated him just because he was with her."

He shook his head and chuckled. "Nah, dude was a straight up douchebag."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever you say, lover boy." Her eyes drifted from him to stare at the wedding ring on his finger. "Why are you wearing that?"

He let out a tired sigh and slipped it off his finger. "I wore it to meet you this morning and then we had to leave almost as soon as I got back. I just forgot to take it off. This is what you used to pick a fight with me so you could meet your handler, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Yes. I had to. I felt awful for creating an unnecessary problem when we were already so...well, broken. I was hoping leaving it, would piss you off so much you'd leave me alone."

"If I wasn't fighting for my life, for Lucy's life, for Rufus's life...it might have. But I can't let Rittenhouse trap us down here like this. I refuse to let my friends live in fear. We need any and all intel we can get and I thought you might know something," he told her with a shrug. "I did not, however, know that Christopher was going to arrest you. I should have, but I didn't."

"You know, I'm actually a bit jealous," Jessica admitted as she watched him toss his old wedding band up in the air and catch it repeatedly. "I haven't had a team or friends or anyone to care about in about three years. I've been bouncing from place to place for a while now. I never stay too long."

"Well," Wyatt said with a teasing half smile. "You're stuck here now so you'll be staying a while. Just like the rest of us."

"So, you think we can do this?" She asked him. "You and me and your girlfriend under the same roof?"

"I think nothing is simple in any of our lives anymore and Lucy's gotten pretty used to adapting to it by now," Wyatt said as a fondness slipped back into his voice. "She's arguably better at adapting to this stuff than me, honestly."

"You really love her, don't you?" Jessica asked him with a small amazed smile. "I can hear it in your voice."

"Yeah," he told her. "I do. I mean, I loved you, I really did. And a part of me always will in some way but with Lucy...God, Jess, it is so much bigger than love. I don't even know if there's a word to describe it, really. I can't think of one, any way. Lucy probably could think of one if I asked," Wyatt said with a chuckle.

"In that case," she said with a warm smile. "Screw Rittenhouse. If you found someone you love so much that you can't put it into words then you better not ever let go, Wyatt. You hear me?"

He nodded. "I hear you, and trust me, I don't plan to."

"Good," she told him with a sad smile. "I know what that kind of love feels like and Rittenhouse ripped it away from me. That was three years ago and I'm still not over it, don't make my mistakes, Wyatt. If it comes down to it, I better see you fight for her. Okay?"

Jessica had fallen in love with someone while they were apart? Someone who made her feel the way he felt about Lucy? What the hell did Rittenhouse do to ruin it?

He was dying to know, but he didn't ask. She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it.

Instead he simply replied, "Okay."

There was a knock on his door and Wyatt had to laugh.

"What? You guys only know how to knock when Lucy and I aren't alone?" He called out. "Come in."

Rufus opened the door with a smirk, but it quickly fell and was replaced with panic. "Funny, man, and if I didn't have bad news I'd take the time to say something snarky in return. But I do, so I won't because JFK escaped."

"He-he what? Rufus, you can't be serious," Wyatt exclaimed as he stood and headed for the door.

"Unfortunately, I am and Lucy is full on freaking out," Rufus told him as Wyatt pushed passed him to the common area. Once Wyatt was gone, Rufus turned to Jessica with an awkward smile. "Hi, I'm Rufus," he said as he held his hand out for a handshake.

"Jessica," she said as she gave him an amused grin and shook his hand.

"Cool, cool, well, um, welcome to the hellhole. Let me know if you need anything. I would give you a tour but, uh-"

"You've got to go rein in a future-past-president who's about to discover California nightlife in the year 2018?" She asked with a smirk as they released hands.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Rufus said with a nod. "Man, my life is weird."

"Tell me about it," Jessica said with a snort. "I've been on the run from an evil cult for five years and now I live with my husband-ex-husband?-and his evil cult royalty girlfriend."

"Yeah, you know, I think you win," Rufus said as he gave her an awkward glance and headed for the hallway. "Yikes."

"Do you think they'd let me tag along on the field trip to track down JFK?" Jessica asked him as she followed him out of the room.

"Sure, why not? Could a not-dead wife really make this situation any worse?" Rufus asked her with a smirk.

In the end they'd gotten JFK back to the past and retrieved Flynn. They chased the young JFK all over town and into a hospital where Emma had nearly taken him out, but they'd set it all right and when Rufus, Wyatt, and Flynn returned to the present his course hadn't been altered at all. He still did everything he would have done before they brought him to the present.

It was a relief for everyone but especially Lucy who had been near frantic when the young John Kennedy went missing.

She threw her arms around Wyatt the minute his fit hit the silo floor.

"Thank god," she said as she hugged him. "This has been the most stressful day."

He chuckled and kissed her temple as he returned her hug. "We're finally off the clock, Professor. You can relax."

"Sure," she said with a laugh. "It's not like we're living with your not-dead wife and a time terrorist or anything."

"What? You mean that's not normal?" Wyatt asked as he pulled back from the embrace to smirk at her.

"No," Lucy said with a roll of her eyes and a playful grin. "But then nothing about us has ever been normal so why start now?"

"You make an an excellent point," Wyatt told her. "But there is one thing about normal that I wish we had."

"What's that?" She asked as she put her arms around his neck again.

"See a normal couple could find a place to get away from their friends and be alone for a few hours," he told her with a smirk as he tightened his arms around her waist. "But we're stuck with these idiots who don't even know how to knock. We also share rooms with other people. It's not at all convenient."

"Oh, well, good thing for you that you have a very smart...uh-girlfriend? Is that what I am? Are we doing that girlfriend and boyfriend thing?-you know what, not important," Lucy said as she shook the thoughts away and tried to return to her original point.

Wyatt laughed softly and smiled at her with bright amused eyes as he waited for her to continue.

"My point was, you're lucky I'm smart and think ahead because I convinced Jiya to switch rooms with you tonight. Though, it wasn't very hard, I think she and Rufus wanted some time alone too," Lucy said with a smirk. "So, tonight, we get the first real alone time we've had since 1941 and, let me tell you, I am very much looking forward to it."

"You're right, I'm very lucky," Wyatt replied with a wide smile and a quiet chuckle. "And to answer your question, we are definitely doing the girlfriend and boyfriend thing. I think you definitely deserve that title. Also, I don't care if they've agreed to the alone time or not, we're putting a damn chair in front of your door. Alright?"

She laughed and nodded. "Agreed. No more interruptions."

fin.