I'm so, so sorry for this awfully long wait! I just want you to know that I never even once thought about abandoning this story, I just wasn't very happy with this chapter for the longest time, so I decided to give it a rest and work on other stories for a while (which may or may not be published here one day). But now I think I finally got it right, and I surely hope that I haven't lost all you faithful readers in the meantime.

18. Searching for Flynn

"Wyatt!? What are you doing here? I didn't expect to hear from you for a few more days," Agent Christopher said astounded.

Lucy and Wyatt exchanged a look full of confusion. This was not what either of them had expected. Not even the better scenarios, they had hoped for, had prepared them for this welcome.

"How do you even know where I live?" she continued, startling them out of their stunned stupor, now sounding a little suspicious. "My private live is confidential, as you very well know, Wyatt, and I don't recall ever giving you any details about it."

"Uhm, I…" Wyatt stammered, still too baffled to gather any coherent thoughts.

"Sorry, I'm forgetting my manners," Agent Christopher was suddenly reconsidering her demeanor. "You must be Lucy, right?" she now kindly turned to Lucy, stretching her hand out in greeting. "Not only does your reputation in history and anthropology precede you, but Wyatt may have mentioned you once or twice as well," she clearly understated, with a twinkle in her eyes. "And of course I've heard about your mother. In fact, I've read all of her books," she admitted in admiration.

"Yes," Lucy replied almost automatically while she was hit by a bad case of déjà vu, "she is … world class."

"Is there a place where we can talk in private?" Wyatt interjected impatiently, finally able to form actual words again, and not in the mood to waste any more time on chitchat, especially when said chitchat involved talking about Carol Preston.

"Sure," Denise said, narrowing her eyes at him in annoyance and bewilderment, "my office. Come in" she added invitingly even though she somewhat reluctantly stepped aside to let them in. Lucy gave her a short, but appreciative smile when she squeezed past the intimidating looking woman, still feeling nervous and kind of like an intruder.

And then when Wyatt passed her, Florence reached out, got a handful of Agent Christopher's hair and pulled.

For a moment, they all froze in their spots. Agent Christopher's face was contorted into a grimace of pain while Wyatt stared at her in pure horror.

Mortified as well, but somehow still quick-thinking, Lucy hurried to free her, all the time muttering how sorry she was. But to her astonishment, Denise didn't get angry, but suddenly started to laugh. "And you must be Miss Florence, I assume," she addressed the little girl, after her hair was once again out of reach of clutching little fingers, "Please forgive me that I didn't greet you right away," she pleaded, lightly tickling the child's tummy.

"No!" Florence said determined, watching the tickling hand with a frown that also easily could qualify as a scowl.

"Don't mind her, she always says that," Wyatt explained quickly with a nervous laugh, "But she doesn't mean it. Of course she forgives you."

"You don't say," Agent Christopher regarded him amused. "Having endured this twice myself, I kind of knew that already," she assured him. "I've even read somewhere that this is not only completely normal behavior for children around her age," she added wisely, "but also a very important step in their development, and I have to say, at this age it is even still quite endearing."

"Well, most of the time," she reconsidered her statement, noticing Wyatt's unconvinced frown, before she continued, "The real trouble begins when they not only continue to say no, but also actually start meaning it," she lectured him. "Unfortunately that stadium lasts till the end of their teenage years and often even beyond that."

"Great," Wyatt grimaced, "something to look forward to, huh?"

"You have no idea," she laughed heartily, touching his arm in a bonding manner. And as if on cue, they were suddenly interrupted by angry shouting, followed by a loud clatter and other rumbling sounds, indicating that someone was fighting a fierce battle in the room next to them.

"Excuse me for a second," Agent Christopher said calmly, before she took a deep breath and entered the war zone.

Through the ajar door, Lucy and Wyatt could hear the voices more clearly now, but most of the exchange was still either muffled or talked over by the opponent, so that they could only make out parts of the problem.

"Mom, Oliva has … even though I…"

"… did NOT! If you hadn't …"

"But I … first …before…"

"… entirely your fault …"

Without really thinking about it, Wyatt reached out for the door to open it further, so that they could actually see what was going on in the room behind it.

"Don't!" Lucy groaned, making a move to grab his arm, but wasn't quick enough to stop him. The door swung open and revealed a once cosy looking sitting room, now blemished with an overturned coffee table, a broken glass with its content spilled all over the carpet, and pillows, blankets, magazines and other stuff thrown around the room. And in the middle of all that havoc were two wrestling teenagers on the couch.

"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!" Agent Christopher demanded just then and took each teenager by one of their arms to pull them apart.

"I said stop it, Marc!" she repeated, yanking the smaller one of the two even further back when he tried to kick his sister's shin.

"Yes stop it Marc," the older one said patronizingly, in a very similar voice as her mother.

"The same goes for you!" Denise said sternly.

"But he started it," the girl shouted accusingly.

"I don't care…"

"Not true," the boy interjected heatedly, "I was here first, and then you came in and changed the channel just because of this stupid show."

"You are damn right," his sister snarled viciously. "You know that this is my time of the day to watch TV."

"Yes, because you are in love with the…"

"Olivia give me the remote!" Agent Christopher talked over Marc, sounding astoundingly unfazed by the whole situation.

"But MOM!" she protested loudly. "I always watch it."

"Now!" Denise demanded, holding her hand out.

"This is so unfair!" Olivia shouted, but handed the remote over. "You always take his side, just because he is still a baby," she added spiteful.

"I'm not a baby!" her brother retorted angrily, and made another futile attempt to kick her.

"I'm not taking anyone's side," Denise clarified, "that's why the two of you can clean up this mess now together!"

x

"This is all wrong," Lucy suddenly whispered agitated into Wyatt's ear, startling him out of his train of thoughts and the unpleasant images that were flooding his brain at the moment. "Marc is supposed to be the older one, not Olivia."

Concerned, Wyatt turned around to look at her, biting his lip while he digested this alarming piece of information. "Yeah well," he eventually shrugged it off, "could have been worse, couldn't it? At least they both still exist. And there isn't anything we can do about it right now."

"How comforting, at least they both still exist," Lucy repeated darkly. "You tell that to her after we have shown her the pictures!" she demanded, pointing towards Agent Christopher.

Wyatt snorted at that, of course Lucy would immediately notice the problem ahead of them, while he was way too busy thinking up one horrid scenario after another involving a possible future with a teenage Florence.

"You think this is funny?" Lucy frowned at him in exasperation.

"No! Later," Wyatt only just managed to whisper out of the corner of his mouth before Agent Christopher joined them again.

"I'm so sorry you had to witness this," she said, "but well, teenagers," she shrugged apologetically. "Every little thing turns into a huge drama."

"Right!" Wyatt gulped uncomfortable, "Another thing to look forward to. Right?"

Agent Christopher laughed at that, then finally showed them to her office.

"Okay, here we are," she said, letting them into the room. "So, what is so important that you had to go to all the trouble of tracking me down?"

"Well, uhm," Lucy started, feeling highly uncomfortable yet again, especially after just being reminded that their presence wasn't exactly appreciated.

"You sure we won't be disturbed in here?" Wyatt asked uncertain, looking around the room while trying to keep a hold on a meanwhile whiny and bored Florence.

"You mean apart from her?" Denise asked with raised eyebrows, giving a short nod towards the cranky toddler.

"We are sorry for this," Lucy intervened, reaching out for Florence, hoping that she would calm down again when she was getting the attention of her other parent now. "But we had no other choice than bringing her along." Which wasn't exactly true, she realized, in fact, they never even talked about leaving her behind, which in retrospect might not have been such a good idea.

Agent Christopher regarded her and her struggle with the upset child for a moment, giving Lucy the feeling that she was somehow failing the test, and then, when Lucy thought she couldn't stand it any longer, Agent Christopher sighed deeply and opened the door again.

For an anxious second or two, Lucy thought they were being dismissed now, but Agent Christopher only shouted, "Olivia, come in here for a second."

Instantly, Lucy was immensely relieved. It was strange, but with one stern look, Denise Christopher could make her feel more insecure than her own mother could with all her nagging and scolding. As it turned out, her opinion of her meant more to Lucy then she had thought it would. In that specific moment, she had realized that if Agent Christopher didn't approve of her, or how she handled her child, Lucy would be devastated. No doubt about that.

As soon as the rather reluctant and surly looking teenager appeared, she continued, "I've changed my mind about the party. You can go if you babysit Florence here for a while."

"What? No, mom, you can't possible think that I would do that after what just happened," Olivia immediately flared up, pointing behind her in the general direction of the sitting room. "Thanks to you and my stupid brother, I've missed today's episode and have to wait a whole more day until I can watch it. So what makes you think I would help you now?"

"Fine by me," Denise shrugged, "but then I won't change my mind about the party next Friday."

"That's blackmail," Olivia protested at once.

"No, that is giving you a choice," Denise argued.

"I don't even know them!" Olivia tried a different approach, nodding disdainful at Lucy and Wyatt.

"So? You know how to take care of toddlers, don't you?" Denise asked sternly, "And that is all I'm asking you to do for a few minutes."

Olivia scowled darkly, but her mind was visibly running wild behind her forehead, going rapidly through all her options.

"Fine," she eventually groaned defeated, "Come on, little one," she then said surprisingly gentle and reached out to take Florence out of Lucy's arms, which the little girl immediately accepted without protests. "Do you like to color something?" they heard Olivia ask just before the door closed behind them.

"Don't worry," Denise said, touching Lucy soothingly on the arm, "I know she didn't give the impression just now that she could be trusted with your child, but believe me, she knows what she is doing, she is taking care of various children in the neighborhood for two years already."

"I didn't ... I mean ...," Lucy blushed furiously, having been caught wearing her thoughts so obvious on her face was quite embarrassing. "Sorry," she therefore only mumbled.

"You don't have to apologize," Denise assured her, "I still remember what it was like being a new mother, and I also know that Olivia has a tendency of not making the best of first impressions," she shrugged, "Guess that is also part of being a teenager. Anyway," she abruptly changed the subject, "I'm sure you didn't come here to talk about rebellious teenagers and their strange behavior, so back to business, what can I do for you?"

"Well, you see," Wyatt began awkwardly, "This is going to sound really strange and we need you to keep an open mind, and, uh, to trust us, if you can."

Denise frowned at them perplexed, clearly having not expected a beginning like that. "I know you Wyatt. And I obviously do trust you, otherwise we wouldn't be working together on the same level as we do these days," she stated seriously. "And I certainly wouldn't have let you into my house just like that."

"That's the thing," Wyatt gulped, "you don't!"

"I don't what?"

"Know me," Wyatt clarified in a breathy voice, then cleared his throat and continued, "or that we can trust each other."

If she had been perplexed before, Agent Christopher now looked utterly dumbfounded. "What is that supposed to mean, I don't know you? We have been working together for four years now, so how about you stop this nonsense at once and tell me what is going on here?"

"That's not what I meant," Wyatt tried again, but then turned helpless towards Lucy. She always had a much better connection with Agent Christopher than he had, and therefore surly knew her better.

"What he is trying to say is, that we are not the same people you think we are," Lucy now took a shot. "I know how this must sound," she quickly continued before Denise could respond, "completely insane and implausible, but it is the truth nonetheless."

"We are from another timeline," Wyatt blurted out, cutting to the chase.

Agent Christopher stared open-mouthed from one of them to the other, most likely thinking that they were trying to pull her leg or something.

"Connor Mason…" Lucy began again, "You know Mason Industries right? Anyway, he built a time-machine," she then rattled off, attempting to get as much information out as possible in a very short span of time. "But it was stolen by someone named Garcia Flynn who then went back in time to change history," she went on, hardly taking a breath between sentences. "In our timeline you were assigned to solve the problem and you hired Wyatt and me to go after him, not only to save history, but also to preserve our own present."

"But we failed," Wyatt contributed," well, rather I failed. And now we need your help to find Flynn in this timeline and fix this."

"It's serious," Lucy stressed, "if we don't find Flynn..."

At this point, Agent Christopher raised her hand to silence her, "The only reason I'm still listening to any of this, and that I'm not asking you to leave right now is that I do know you Wyatt," she stubbornly emphasized, "and that I usually can count on your credibility, but you are stretching my patience with this nonsense."

"Please, we can prove it," Lucy now begged desperately. She didn't care that she came off as whiny and helpless now. If Agent Christopher didn't believe them, then their chances of finding Flynn were very slim to nonexistent.

"Agent Christopher," Wyatt addressed her in his most official sounding voice. "With all due respect, ma'am, we are not joking. You said you could count on my other selve's credibility, and I can assure you that you can count on mine as well."

"Do I?" Denise asked sternly, "According to you, I don't even know you, so if that is indeed true, why on earth should I believe you then?"

"Because of this!" Lucy answered for Wyatt, holding the flash drive up in front of her, "You gave this to me in case the changed history would affect your personal life in the present, and you wanted me to show this to you if that ever happened. Well, it did happen, not as severe as it could have, but still."

Denise regarded her for a while, and was probably for the first time contemplating if there actually was a hint of truth to their story.

"Just look at the content of the drive, please ma'am," Wyatt urged her, "that is all we are asking of you. And if that still doesn't change your mind, we'll leave and won't mention any of this ever again."

"Fine," Denise agreed to both Lucy and Wyatt's delight and astonishment, "But that still doesn't mean that I believe you."

"That's okay," Lucy relented hastily, "just give us a chance."

xxx

Lucy and Wyatt spent the entire time Agent Christopher looked through the pictures and documents in anticipated silence, not daring to make even the tiniest noise that might annoy or disturb her.

At first it was clear due to her sceptical expression that she either didn't really pay attention, or that she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, and with each picture their fear grew that she would call it off and send them away. But then her frown deepened and soon after was replaced by an expression of surprise.

"Is ... is this Marc?" Denise suddenly asked, pointing at the picture of a teenage boy that looked a lot like her ten year old.

"Yes," Lucy said tentatively, "in our timeline Marc is older than Olivia. But I think that is the only change."

"Not quite," Denise sighed, "Marc suffers from asthma, but I can't find any record of that in here."

"Um maybe you just didn't include it," Lucy speculated, having no idea if the Marc from her timeline had been affected by this or any other malady as well.

"Well, there are medical records from both of them, so I guess it would have been mentioned in there."

"So, does that mean you believe us now?" Wyatt pressed impatiently, finally wanting a definite answer from her.

Denise shot him an indignant glare, causing him to recoil slightly.

"We know this is a lot to comprehend," Lucy then said much more empathetic, patting Wyatt's arm affectionately in a soothing manner, "But as we already mentioned, it is a little urgent that we find..."

"Yes I heard you," Agent Christopher interrupted her, "You need my help to find this Flynn guy before he changes history again, is that correct so far?"

"Yep!" Wyatt confirmed.

"How does that work anyway?" Denise asked, scrolling through some more pictures, "If this guy has stolen the time-machine, then how can you go after him?"

"Um, there are two," Wyatt informed her. "There is the mothership, that's the one that Flynn has, and then there is the lifeboat, it's the prototype and Mason kept it in working order to go after the mothership in case of an emergency. They are linked, you know, but Rufus can explain this much better than me."

"Rufus?"

"Our pilot, and friend," Lucy enlightened her briefly. "He works for Connor Mason."

xxx

"Do you think she is going to help us?" Lucy asked concerned during breakfast the next morning. They had tried to convince Agent Christopher for nearly three hours, but she remained sceptical, and they still hadn't gotten a definite answer when they finally left.

"She probably just needs a bit more time," Wyatt tried to convince the both of them, "you'll see, she'll come around."

"I really hope so," Lucy mumbled, still full of doubts. Maybe mentioning that she and Wyatt hadn't even been together in their timeline, and that Florence practically came out of nowhere had been too much information for the first day.

"She has a lot to digest at the moment and even more to take into consideration if she indeed decides to help us," Wyatt elaborated further. "I mean think about it, if we are telling the truth, she has to accept the fact that her family could be affected as well from any changes that we, or Flynn, cause in the past. Until now it had only been a fear of her, well, other-her, but suddenly it is a very likely possibility and she has to consider very carefully if she is willing to risk it."

"I guess you are right," Lucy sighed, softly stroking a loose strand of hair out of Florence's face, while the little girl contentedly munched on her toast with strawberry jam, not suspecting at all that her mere existence could be in danger.

"Hey," Wyatt said tentatively, taking her other hand in his. "It is going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to either of you."

Lucy smiled at him appreciatively, knowing very well that this might be beyond his control, but nevertheless relishing in the fact that he said it at all.

"Okay, I have to go now," Lucy sighed torn, longingly regarding Wyatt and Florence one more time, wishing she could forget all about work and stay home with them. But then she forced herself to stand up and moved over to the counter to get her handbag.

Wyatt picked Florence up and went after her, "I'm going to miss you," he smiled, leaning in to kiss her goodbye. Surprisingly this still felt a little surreal to Lucy, so she eagerly returned his kiss to make it more real.

However, the contrary happened and she completely lost herself in Wyatt. And just when her mind went blissfully blank while their kisses got more heated, something smacked both their cheeks and brought them abruptly back to reality.

Slightly dazed, both of them turned towards the source of the distraction, which turned out to be their giggling daughter, who just had slapped their faces with her sticky fingers, right in the middle where they had locked lips.

Wyatt looked flabbergasted at the rude interruption, but Lucy thought it was hilarious. Laughing, she reached for her daughter and took her out of Wyatt's arms to cover her face with kisses now, not minding at all that there still was jam smeared all over it. Florence wildly squirmed at the unexpected attack and so Lucy reluctantly released her and put her down onto the floor.

"Damn, I really have to go now," she whined and quickly gave Wyatt another kiss.

"Hm, right," Wyatt grimaced, smacking his lips, "Strawberry jam. My favourite," he added sarcastically.

"Oops, sorry," Lucy said, grabbing a napkin form the kitchen counter to clean her face before she headed out. "See you later," she called over her shoulder and then she was gone.

"Alright little monkey," Wyatt said lifting Florence up with a swing. "New rule! No interrupting when I'm trying to kiss your mom. Got that? And stealing her attention away with your unmeasurably cuteness was a low blow as well. We both know that I won't have a chance in comparison."

"No!" Florence agreed, nodding her head enthusiastically, totally agreeing with his assumption.

xxx

"What if they are still out there somewhere?" Lucy asked concerned later that evening, snuggling closer against Wyatt's chest.

"What do you mean?" he frowned, drawing small patterns across her arm.

"I mean what if there are, I don't know, different timelines or something," Lucy elaborated hesitantly, "and Flo's real parents are stuck in one of them? Maybe even in our original timeline?"

Wyatt swallowed hard at the mere thought.

"It's just that, as horrible as it has been to lose a sister, or even a spouse," she continued, watching him apprehensively out of the corner of her eye. "I think it would be much worse to lose a daughter. Don't you think?"

"Lucy stop it!" Wyatt exclaimed, sitting up against the headboard. "I can't do this, okay. All this time-travel stuff is mind blowing enough without having to think about the possibility of other versions of ourselves in other timelines," he groaned in despair. "If they do exist, then I'm sorry, but they have to take care of their happiness on their own. I'm more concerned about our happiness and well-being, yours, Rufus', and mine," he determined. "That is my priority! And of course, as long as she is with us, Flo's as well."

Lucy looked at him aghast, "What do you mean as long as she is with us?" she asked, sliding away from him a little.

"Well, if these other versions of us truly exist," Wyatt smirked at her, "then I'm pretty sure that they won't rest until they have their little girl back. At least I know we wouldn't."

Lucy looked at him for a moment, then a smile appeared on her face, "No, you are right, we would never stop fighting for her." It was a sad, but also very comforting realization, knowing that any version of them would do whatever they could to keep this little girl safe and sound. So if it truly wasn't them who would be blessed with taking care of her in the end, then surly some other Lucy and Wyatt would. It definitely wasn't what Lucy hoped for, but it was giving her a little peace of mind for now.

"If ...," Wyatt began, but then couldn't find the words right away and broke up again.

"Yes?" Lucy encouraged him to finish his sentence after a while.

"If we have to go back into the lifeboat," he finally voiced his thought. "What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Lucy frowned, unsure what exactly he wanted to know from her.

"Are we going to take her with us? Florence I mean."

"I don't know. Do you think we could actually do that?" she asked hopeful, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"That's the thing," Wyatt grimaced, "I'm not sure if she should do it, to be honest, even if we could. I want to, that's not the issue," he hastily added before Lucy could protest, "but I would never forgive myself if something happened to her because of that," he pointed out. "And I'm not even talking about the fact that we are trying to stop an armed, maniac psychopath, but the trip itself. Think about all the different time periods we could end up in. What if she catches a disease? Or if we are stuck in any of them again and we can't get enough food for her, or..."

"I know the risks, you can stop picturing it for me," Lucy pleaded disheartened.

"What I'm trying to say is that we might have to actively choose between leaving her behind, or letting Flynn mess up history as he pleases." Wyatt finally got to the unfiltered truth. "And I don't think I could accept either way," he admitted.

Lucy nodded absentmindedly, wholeheartedly agreeing with him. "So we have to stop him before he can jump back in time," she simply stated after a moment of consideration.

Wyatt laughed at that, "Jeez, why didn't I think of that? We should have tried this much earlier. But seriously Lucy, I'm not sure what to do when it comes down to that."

"We cross that bridge when we get to it," she decided. "No need to get all worked up about it now. First we have to find Flynn. Everything else can wait until then."

"So one step at the time?" Wyatt suggested.

"One step at the time" Lucy confirmed, smiling.

xxx

"And you are absolutely sure she is coming?" Rufus asked for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, for heaven's sake," Wyatt said edgy. "How many times do I have to tell you until you believe me?"

"But she explicit did say that she is going to help us?" Rufus went on, undeterred.

"I've told you this as well," Wyatt groaned. "She didn't give me any specifics on the phone, just that she had some news for us and that she wanted to talk to all of us."

"Yeah, because then she is able to institutionalize us all at once," Rufus countered darkly.

Wyatt impatiently rolled his eyes at him, "You don't have to stay, if you don't want to, but don't think that I'm going to give you a full report afterwards. And neither is Lucy," he quickly added when he saw Rufus glance over at her.

"Fine," he then relented, "But don't complain if she indeed brings a bunch of straightjackets along with her."

"I won't, I promise," Wyatt said snarky, accompanied by another eye-roll towards Lucy, who smiled amused and put a soothing hand on his shoulder. Wyatt used the moment to sneak an arm around her, drew her close against his side, and kissed her on top of her head. It still marvelled him that he was allowed to do that now. It made all the difference. Everything was somehow better, even Rufus' grouchiness.

"So when exactly did Agent Christopher say again that she wanted to be here?" Rufus asked, trying to sound casually.

x

Agent Christopher arrived about half an hour later, precisely when she had said she would, laden with a bunch of folders, containing various documents.

Wyatt, who had opened the door, offered to help her, but she determinedly pushed past him and dropped her load onto the coffee table with a sigh.

"This is all I could find out about Connor Mason, Mason Industries, his investors, and his employees," she informed them without further ado. "Present company excluded," she added, nodding towards Jiya and Rufus.

"Great!" Wyatt said impressed, immediately reaching for one of the folders, and started skipping through it. "Anything about Flynn in here?" he asked, glancing up at Agent Christopher.

"Not yet," she replied. "I've contacted the NSA and requested his file, but they aren't very cooperative for some reason and are stalling the transfer, but that is only a matter of a few more hours, a day or two at the most."

Wyatt nodded with a grimace, he hated bureaucracy. Things always got delayed because some really not important dick saw his chance to shine for a while by making everything more complicated than it had to be.

"All right then," he sighed, "we can start with Emma and Anthony then," he decided, "maybe they can lead us to Flynn without having to wait for his file."

"Great," Rufus muttered under his breath, "Another evening spent with paper work and hitting the books."

Wyatt threw him a dark look, but another touch of Lucy's hand stopped him from making a snide comment. "Here," he said instead, throwing a file at him, "How about you make yourself useful and look through Anthony's file? After all, you know him best." Then he turned to Jiya, "And would you take care of Emma then?" he asked much more polite.

"Sure," she replied, accepting the file from him, "But I really don't know how helpful I'm going to be, I don't know the Emma from your timeline, and with this one it is hardly any better."

"That doesn't matter," Wyatt assured her, "just go with your guts. Make a note of anything that sounds suspicious, or out of the ordinary."

And so they all set to work, Wyatt with a grim determination, Lucy with an eager expectation and Jiya with devoted support. Only Rufus seemed to think this was a waste of time. And though he didn't further complain but dutifully handled his share of files, he couldn't quell making exasperated noises from time to time, which not only earned him annoyed looks from Wyatt every time, but also an eye-roll or two from Jiya.

Agent Christopher didn't assist with the files, but took on the task of entertaining Florence while her parents and their friends were busy. She couldn't have helped them with the research anyhow and this way she felt like she could at least make herself useful.

"I'm not sure, but…," Lucy suddenly interrupted the silence, "Here look at this," she showed them the file of one of the investors that she had been studying. "I can't help it," she said excited, "but this person sounds a lot like he could be part of Rittenhouse. You know, coming from a wealthy, influential family. According to this file, his family has been around since the 1800s, and it seems they only got more powerful over time. I mean, look at all their investments beside and before Mason Industries. That's mental."

Curious, Wyatt leaned over her shoulder to get a better look. "Aiden Floris, that name sounds familiar, doesn't it?" he remarked, pointing at the regarding entry. "You said 1800s? Is he by any chance related to that railroad guy?"

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, frowning at him. "What railroad guy?"

Wyatt blinked at her, confused that she didn't know this, "Well, you know, Lysander Floris, the guy that was vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1862 and was essential for building the Transcontinental Railroad."

Lucy gaped at him open-mouthed for what felt like hours and Wyatt immediately lost his confidence, "I could be wrong of course," he therefore backpedalled at once, "I just thought I read that name the other day, when we tried to find out what else has changed in history. It kind of caught my attention for some reason so I continued reading," he rattled on, "and then I actually got quite invested in the story," he admitted sheepishly, shrugging it off as if it wasn't a big deal.

At any other time, Lucy might have grinned at him smugly after this admission of showing interest in her field, but now it seemed this juicy detail remained unperceived by her. "But that's not true!" she forcefully exclaimed instead, causing Wyatt to wince in the process, "There was no Lysander Floris in the Union Pacific Railroad."

"Yeah, well, I said I could be wrong," Wyatt conceded defensive, holding his hands up in surrender. "So maybe it was the Central Pacific then?" he suggested deterred.

Lucy scrutinized him for a moment with a deep frown on her forehead. "Wait a minute," she then ordered.

"Sure," he mumbled, following her with his eyes as she hurried over to her office.

A few minutes later she returned with one of her many history books and started to flip hectically through the pages. "Turns out you are actually right, Wyatt!" she confirmed a moment later with a heavy sigh, sounding defeated.

"Okay," he responded, exchanging a bewildered look with Rufus, who only shrugged his shoulders. "But you make it sound like that is a bad thing," he therefore added, turning back to Lucy.

"Well it is!" she insisted heatedly. "The vice-president of the Union Pacific Railroad was named Thomas Clark Durant. But on contrary to this Floris fellow here," she exclaimed, stabbing the page accusingly, "Durant was mostly interested in his own benefit, like choosing Omaha at the eastern terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad because he owned land there, which then of course increased in worth. And then he would manipulate the value of the stock of the different rail companies by claiming to change said terminus, which then allowed him to invest into, or sell their stocks whenever it was convenient," Lucy explained angrily, causing the others to fall silent and listen awedly to her tirade.

"And later on, he created the Credit Mobilier of America," she went on, talking herself more and more into rage.

"The what?" Rufus dared to interject with a deep frown on his forehead.

"It was a construction and finance company that was supposed to help complete the railroad. But that was more or less a sham as Durant took exorbitant prices for the service only to make a huge profit for himself. In other words the Credit Mobilier became a symbol for corruption. It actually was a front to bribe U.S. congressmen and feral lawmakers for business favors, and divert public funds for personal gain of Union Pacific corporate leaders. All of this become a huge scandal in 1872 when…"

"Yes, I think we get the notion," Rufus eventually interrupted the lecture, "Durant also sounds like a huge douchebag. So who cares if it was him or this other dude? The point is they both seemed to be perfect fits to be part of Rittenhouse and therefore possible leads to Flynn. Right?" he summarized the discovery, turning around to Wyatt for support.

But Wyatt was still lost in his own thoughts, and didn't reply. "So you are saying that there are changes in history after all, and we just haven't spotted them earlier?" he finally asked Lucy for confirmation, totally ignoring Rufus.

"I guess so…," Lucy trailed off, now frowning in concentration herself. "But that doesn't make sense," she then protested, her mind running wild. "Flynn never even went near anyone connected to the railroad. So how is it possible that he changed things?"

"Of course!" Wyatt suddenly blurted out, hitting his forehead in realization. "1754!"

Excited, he looked from Lucy to Rufus and back again, waiting for them to catch on, but when he realized that they didn't understand the meaning behind his brilliant discovery, he further elaborated, "I mean we've been stuck there for a couple of days, right? So who says that Flynn didn't use the chance to go after his real target while we were busy fighting of Indians and the Frenchmen?"

"Yeah maybe, or he did it while we were stuck in this awful cellar with the murderous nutcase," Rufus interjected. "That gave him at least a few hours to sneak off into another century."

"Actually, building the Transcontinental Railroad happened in the same century," Lucy instantly corrected him absentmindedly. "Besides, Flynn was trapped himself for most of the time."

"Doesn't matter, does it?" Wyatt pointed out, "A few minutes headstart would have been enough, wouldn't it?"

"I don't think so," Lucy shook her head no, "Don't ask me to explain it, but I just know that this wasn't the reason for the changes."

"Then what is?" Wyatt asked exasperated, feeling a bit disappointed that she didn't like his idea.

"I don't know, sorry," Lucy shrugged helpless.

"But if what you say is true," Jiya now took the issue up again, "then how is it possible that everything you changed, was able to change back?"

"I don't know that either," Lucy whispered at a loss.

Agent Christopher, who had been silent for most of the time, just listening to their findings and theories, suddenly decided to speak up, "I'm not an expert here, but couldn't it be that these people simply weren't important to history? As Rufus here stated so nicely, who cares which douchebag accomplished the job as long as it was accomplished at all."

"But ... but that's not possible," Lucy stammered, her confusion growing by the minute. "This is about Rittenhouse," she pointed out. "Flynn targeted them because he wanted to eliminate them. Not to change history per se, but to change his own immediate history."

"So does that mean all the people Flynn targeted weren't really Rittenhouse?" Rufus speculated. "But rather random people?"

"Lucy is right though," Wyatt dissented. "That doesn't make sense. Why would Flynn even bother to track them down, if they weren't Rittenhouse?"

"Unless," Lucy pondered. "They were Rittenhouse, but they didn't belong to any of the founding families, so they weren't part of the inner circle so to speak, and ..."

"And therefore weren't essential for whatever goal Rittenhouse pursued," Jiya finished her thought, "That is awesome Lucy!"

"And it would also explain why they weren't affected by Flynn's mass murder in 1843," Lucy added agitated. "The attack may have had a mayor impact on the organisation that Rittenhouse stands for, reducing their influence significantly in later years, but he wasn't able to destroy the whole bunch of them. According to my mother, one of my ancestors survived the massacre itself, but who knows how many people were already part of Rittenhouse at that time, that weren't key players, so to say, and were able to hold up their philosophy and pass it on to others."

They debated back and forth if it was really possible that history could mostly still be the same even though Flynn had made sure that a huge part of "the elite" had been eliminated in 1843.

And now that she knew what she had to look for, Lucy found more and more inaccuracies. It were only very small changes, like the exact date of an occurrence, or the chronological order of all the things that led to it, or sometimes the motion behind the action was slightly different than Lucy would recall. What really stood out though was that ever so often the person in charge was replaced by one with an unfamiliar name. At least according to Lucy, the others could only take her word for it.

"So let me get this straight. After the primary initiator was out of the picture, probably thanks to Flynn, the bastards simply found some other blockhead to do their dirty work for them?" Wyatt summed it up.

"Looks like it, yeah," Lucy nodded, looking almost apologetically at him as if it was her fault.

"That's so messed up!" he huffed disgusted. "So it doesn't matter at all what we do, in the end everything turns out the same?"

Lucy gave a mirthless laugh, "I guess Flynn was right after all, history will find someone else," she spat out.

"Yeah, but only in regards of the big events," Rufus argued darkly, "for the ordinary people it does matter what we do. Their lives could alter significantly at any moment because of us, even up to the point that they are completely erased from history."

They all fell silent for a moment, trying to digest their findings and conclusions.

"Maybe … I don't know," Wyatt trailed off again to gather his thoughts.

"Maybe what?" Lucy impatiently urged him to continue.

"Okay, hear me out here for a minute, I know I said that I don't believe in meant-to-be, but maybe some things, not all of them," he emphasized before Lucy had the chance to gloat over his admission, "are meant-to-be."

"Like what?" Rufus asked, unconvinced.

"I don't know, like you and Jiya for example," Wyatt shrugged. "I mean you were together in our timeline," he added an explanation that even sounded lame in his ears, "and you are together now despite the change of circumstances."

"Actually, we are not …" Jiya piped up, but her protests were immediately cut off by Rufus bursting out laughing, "You think the universe's master plan was to get Jiya and me together?"

"Yes and no," Wyatt said mysteriously. "Not just you and Jiya though. I mean take Amy for example, in our previous timeline she was older than she is now, but according to Lucy, she is more or less exactly the same nevertheless. So what if some people, or some occurrences are meant-to-be, whereas others are optional? So yes, maybe you and Jiya are meant to be, like Amy was meant to be born, just like your children," he nodded towards Agent Christopher. "were meant to be, but they, same as Amy, have been born at different times, which therefore might have been optional."

"But Amy was erased from our timeline," Lucy pointed out, "So how could she be meant-to-be then?"

"True, but that doesn't count," Wyatt dismissed this" thanks to you and your necklace, she never was completely gone, and neither of us had given up yet on getting her back, so my theory stands, Amy was always meant-to-be!"

Rufus snorted, "Well, if you are right about that, then you and Lucy are defiantly meant-to-be. I mean, think about what the universe had to come up with when the two of you so royally screwed up your initial meeting in Ohio in our original timeline. It took what, 4 ordinary years and another one of altering history to get you guys back on track."

"I don't know about that," Wyatt admitted sheepishly, drawing Lucy into his arms. "I was pretty much on track right away, I was just too stupid to admit it."

"Oh no, not again," Rufus protested, grabbing Lucy's arm to pull her away from Wyatt. "I'm happy for you guys, I really am, but your recent behaviour makes having a normal conversation with you almost impossible."

"Besides," he added disgusted, "do you have even the faintest idea how cheesy you just sounded?"

Wyatt simply grinned at this rebuke. He was happy with Lucy, and he had denied himself this feeling way too long to give a damn now what others thought of him.

"But Wyatt, if you are right that also means that…" Lucy stopped mid-sentence, too afraid to actually voice her train of thoughts.

"It means that Jessica is optional," Wyatt calmly finished for her, even though he then had to swallow hard at the mere thought, "or maybe expendable in the long term," he therefore suggested. It still sounded bad, but not as awful as that Jessica was completely redundant.

Lucy looked at him full of compassion.

"Well, at least that would explain why I wasn't able to get her back when I stole the lifeboat, right?" he shrugged as if it wasn't that big of a deal, which it probably wasn't, at least not anymore. "But you know what? I think the universe made the right choice in the end," he whispered, nuzzling her nose with his. "Even if you can be a bit bossy from time to time."

Lucy, quite moved by his words, quickly shut him up by pressing her lips against his, ignoring Rufus' groans.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Agent Christopher then spoke up again, causing Wyatt and Lucy to back away from each other to give her their full attention. "I'm obviously no expert on this whole time-travel business, but don't you forget something?"

"Like what?" Lucy asked concerned, exchanging a puzzled look with Wyatt and Rufus.

"Although I do like all your theories, as they sound not only possible, but would also explain a lot, I still don't understand why most things went back to their original setting," she explained slowly, choosing her words carefully.

"Even if we don't count your excursion to 1754, as nothing really has happened there," she continued, "Flynn still went back as far as 1780 to change history. And as you told me, he did it successfully, so how was that even possible when things are meant-to-be and determined to right themselves? He shouldn't have been able to do that! And why did they then go back to normal all of a sudden?"

Lucy gaped at her speechless. How could she have overseen this?

"Don't get me wrong, I do believe that your ideas are playing a part here, but I also think we are still missing something essential. And I'm almost certain that your last mission to 1843 is the key to all of this. Something majorly has happened there, that we haven't figured out yet."

xxx

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked when she came back from the bathroom later that night.

"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?" Wyatt asked surprised, folding back the blanket of their bed.

"You know, the whole thing with Jessica being expendable," she approached him cautiously. "I just really don't like the sound of it and neither do you."

Wyatt grimaced, "I'm fine. She is alive now, and everything else is history."

"Is it really though, Wyatt, because I saw that look on your face in the lifeboat after our last mission, right before we jumped," Lucy countered. "You were thinking about her. Don't deny it! And why wouldn't you? We hardly made it out there alive, so of course you'd be thinking of her, she has always been so important to you."

Maybe it was stupid to corner him like that, but Lucy had to know, and she also didn't want him to hide his true feelings from her any longer.

Wyatt frowned at her in bewilderment, but then a grin appeared on his face,
"You are right, I actually was thinking about her," he confessed, walking over to her and put his hands on her hips to draw her against him, "or more specifically, I was thinking that it was about time that I moved on from her. I almost lost you that day, Lucy," he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers, "and I didn't want to waste another minute without you. I wasn't sure back then if you felt the same way, but I had my suspicions," he told her, "and I'd be damned if I didn't at least give it a try."

"Are you for real?" Lucy gasped astounded, backing away from him in surprise just when he was about to kiss her. "Because that was the moment when I decided to give up on you," she revealed exasperated. "I thought I would never have a chance with you."

"You are kidding, right?" Wyatt groaned in frustration, putting his hands on his own hips now.

"I'm afraid not," she sighed, hiding her face behind her hands, because she couldn't believe this. They really had the worst timing and communicating skills imaginable.

Wyatt gave her a lopsided grin, "How on earth did those two," he pointed around the room to emphasize his meaning, "manage to end up with each other?" he wondered, shaking his head in disbelief. "Without the help of a pesky friend and an adorable toddler, I mean."

"Well, I guess they, or rather we, have to thank Jessica for this," Lucy recalled her conversation with the latter, watching him closely to gauge his reaction. "She was the one that introduced us in this timeline, remember?"

"Right," Wyatt muttered, contorting his face briefly, "Seems like they also had to rely on a pesky friend then."

Lucy grinned at the comment furtively, "Don't let her hear you said that," she mumbled shyly, unsure what to make of his recent dismissive behaviour towards his former wife.

"I won't" he chuckled, "I'm not that stupid!"

Lucy scrutinized him for a moment. "So, you actually were flirting with me, weren't you?" she determined, grinning. "Ever since we ended up here in this timeline," she elaborated when he frowned at her, "I had this feeling that you were trying to be somewhat flirty, and now I'm actually quite sure you were."

"Oh come on," Wyatt exclaimed indignant. "You knew perfectly well that I was trying to woo you," he alleged. "And you always backed away from me whenever I did that, making me feel stupid for even attempting it."

"That's not true," Lucy protested laughing, boxing his arm lightly. "I did not! I just didn't want to get my hopes up, that's all," she explained more serious. "But just for your information, your flirty approaches were terrible," she couldn't help adding.

"Terrible, huh?" Wyatt repeated with an insecure smile, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't that bad!" he said, trying to sound as confident as possible without being cocky.

"No," Lucy laughed, "worse actually."

"Ouch!" Wyatt flinched, putting a hand over his heart to symbolize how much that hurt him.

Taking a pity of him, Lucy edged closer again. "Well, in hindsight, it makes you quite adorable though," she relented, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yah?"

"Uhm-hm." She leaned forward to kiss him, which he reciprocated enthusiastically.

"So tell me," she suddenly demanded, interrupting the kiss so abruptly that Wyatt was still following her withdrawing face for a moment, his lips still pursed. "Just in case I didn't notice, when was the first time you tried to win me over?"

Wyatt winced, rubbing his neck, highly embarrassed that he had to explain his actions now. "Remember when I suggested to grab a bite to eat after our last mission?" Lucy nodded pensively. "Well, uhm, that was my very clumsy attempt to ask you out."

Lucy's serious expression turned into a huge smile. "You know," she said, playing idly with the short hair in his neck, "I was so scared to be alone with you that evening that it never even occurred to me that this could actually mean anything besides getting some food."

"Scared?" Wyatt repeated, taken aback by her confession. "Of me?"

"Well, not you specifically, but your company and my feelings for you," Lucy elaborated. "Like I said, after that mission, I was set on getting over my desire for you."

"Desire," Wyatt picked up, letting his hands wander down her back. "That sounds so much better than scared."

"Sorry I've been so stupid," Lucy whispered, pressing their bodies closer together and resting her forehead against his once more.

"Not as stupid as I was," Wyatt said, nuzzling her nose. "This whole thing with Jessica, Lucy, I knew it was wrong, I just thought...," he sheepishly broke up and blushed a little, "well, you didn't seem like you were interested in me, and I... Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. It was all too overwhelming and happened so fast that I hardly had time to even think straight."

"It's okay," Lucy promised, "I get it."

"I know you do," Wyatt assured her, "I just don't want you to think that you are my second choice, or something silly like that, because that is so not the case, Lucy."

The single tear that escaped her gleaming eyes, and that now rolled down her left cheek was proof enough that this thought had indeed crossed her mind, he was sure of it now. He gently wiped the tear away and then brushed his lips other the spot were it had been just a couple of seconds ago. He hardly had time to become aware of the salty taste on his lips when Lucy hugged him even closer, burrowing her face against his chest, sighing deeply while breezing him in.

He hold her tightly for a moment, then started to chuckle, and Lucy immediately backed away a little to look at him.

"Sorry," he laughed. "I was just now remembering how jealous I have been when we first came here and you told me that you have a daughter. God, I wanted to kill that stupid bastard that managed to snatch you away from me just when I finally had decided to take my chances with you myself. It was one hell of a shock."

That confession made Lucy laugh as well now. "You think all of this was a shock for you? What about me? I came home and was shortly after left alone with a toddler, that stubbornly insisted that I was her mother," she tried to surpass his suffering.

"True, and then you left me alone with her, although I had no idea what I was supposed to do." Wyatt shook his head in amusement how helpless he had felt that day. "And the entire time I was trying so hard to fight against the resentment I felt towards her."

"God I know," Lucy groaned. "It was so nerve-wracking that I actually detested her at first," she admitted. "If I had known right away that she was yours, I never ever would have felt so petrified, helpless, and simply angry about the whole situation."

"I kind of knew," Wyatt confessed then, causing Lucy to drop her smile and frown at him in surprise. "Not right away," he hurried to assure her, "but quite early on. I just refused to accept it."

"How did you know?"

"She called me daddy, after she woke up that day," he shrugged. "But I stubbornly assumed that she must have mistaken me for someone else."

"Did she now," Lucy smirked, then suddenly hit his chest. "How could you ignore her then?"

"Hey," Wyatt protested, catching her hand in his, "I didn't ignore her, I just didn't believe her, that's a difference. I mean, come on, what were the chances that this was indeed true? You and me? Just like that?"

"I know," Lucy giggled, "that was … rather unexpected."

"Yeah, that it was," Wyatt shook his head in bewilderment just thinking about this outcome. "I'm glad though this happened to us," he said, looking her directly into the eyes.

"Me too," Lucy whispered, returning his gaze with the same intensity, then she closed the gap between them once more to claim his lips in a deep kiss.

I did a lot of research on the railroad and Thomas Clark Durant in particular, because I immediately thought that he would fit the profile of a true Rittenhouse member perfectly, but I'm not an historian so I might have gotten things wrong, or have put them in a false context. If that has happened, I want to apologize for that mistake.

Lysander Floris on the other hand is my own creation and any similarity to a real historical character would really surprise me.