Wyatt remembered she'd come in to work in jeans and sweater which was totally normal. Then they'd changed into their traveling clothes. The 1920s, which was new for him, but not for Lucy or Rufus. He had to admit the 20s weren't so bad fashion wise. Lucy looked amazing, but when did she not look amazing?
However, after the traveling was over and they changed to go home, he noticed she was not still wearing jeans and sweater. No, she was wearing a velvety spaghetti strap dress in a rich sapphire color with something drapey, sheer and silver over her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of strappy silver heels and for the first time he noticed a small tattoo on the top of her foot. Music notes. Her hair fell in careless waves that perfectly framed her face. The only thing familiar about this outfit was the locket that constantly hung around her neck. She had a section of her hair braided and pinned back behind her ear. He had a feeling Jiya did that. Lucy usually wore her hair either completely up or completely down.
Not that he noticed those kind of things…
In a word, she looked stunning. She was also buzzing with nerves and anxiousness.
He felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Oh, no.
He cleared his throat and she turned with a start. "Whoa, didn't mean to scare you," Wyatt said with a fond chuckle.
"Oh no, you didn't. I was just...distracted," Lucy said with a small smile. Her hands were absently twirling her phone between them.
"Big plans?" He asked. "You're all dressed up...in modern day attire," he said as he hastily added that last part.
She chuckled and relaxed just slightly. "You could say that," she told him as she fell into step beside of him.
"Are you using your security detail tonight?" He asked with a suspicious glare.
She rolled her eyes at him but he could tell she was more touched by his concern than miffed.
"I mean, if not then I fully intend on tailing you-"
"Calm down, Solider," Lucy said with a grin and a shake of her head. "Two of Mason's guys are already on call."
"I just want you to be safe," Wyatt told her. "I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass."
She laughed softly. "Could have fooled me." When she noticed he looked less than amused she sobered quickly and cleared her throat. "Sorry, right. I know. That's why I called Mason's security team. I had your concerned nagging voice in my head. As much as I groan about it, I do listen to you, Wyatt."
He scoffed and chuckled dryly. "Selectively listen to me, you mean."
"Potato, potahto," she said with a shrug and teasing grin.
They were in the parking garage now, almost to her car, and he still hadn't learned what he most wanted to know. As they reached her car her phone rang. She looked ready to ignore it until she saw the name on the screen. He couldn't see the whole name but he did see the first name.
Paul.
She gave Wyatt an apologetic look and answered quickly. "Hey," she said softly. "Yeah, I'm on my way." She winced. "I know I'm a little late, sorry. No, no worries, we did that last night. Okay, yeah, see you in a bit. You too." She bit her bottom lip as she hung up the phone and then took a fortifying breath. "I've gotta go," she told Wyatt with a weak smile. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Yeah, of course."
He headed to his truck that was parked next to hers and took his time getting it started.
Well, he thought, that settled it. She was going on a date. With who, though? She hadn't said anything about meeting anyone. An irrational fear filled him, that had nothing to do with jealousy (definitely not), that this was some sort of set up. This guy was Rittenhouse, like her ex-fake-fiance, who'd been arrested just last week after they finished going through the last of Ethan Cahill's evidence. She was headed into a trap. Had anyone done a background check on this guy? He watched her pull out of her parking spot and knew he was about to do something very stupid.
He was going to follow her on her date.
For her safety.
No other reason.
None whatsoever.
God, he was an idiot. What was she doing dating some random guy anyway? Not that he had any right to feel slighted. It had been a month since that conversation about 'possibilities' and he hadn't done a damn thing. He convinced himself that she needed time to adjust to the new insanity that surrounded them. To her mother's lies, her father's crimes, and the idea of chasing Emma through time for the foreseeable future. But really he was just straight up chickenshit.
And now she was dating.
He kept a few cars between them and his headlights off. Surveillance was an important part of his job. This would be easy, if not morally questionable. His phone rang and he recognized the number as one of Mason's security guards. He answered it quickly.
"Logan, what the hell are you doing?" Tony asked with a tired sigh. "Why are you following Lucy? We've got this one."
"Thought you might could use some back up," He answered weakly. He should have known they'd notice him following her. They were just two cars up in a huge black SUV with pitch black tinted windows. He could see it up ahead. "She won't even know I'm here."
He could swear Tony snorted before he spoke again. "Whatever you say, man."
Tony hung up on him and Wyatt put his phone back down. His thoughts immediately went back to Lucy's date. What kind of date let a girl drive herself, by the way? He huffed in annoyance and shook his head. Lucy deserved to be picked up and chauffeured around. She deserved to have doors opened for her, even if she hated it and half-heartedly complained every time he did it. She deserved the best.
They reached a strip of elegant restaurants and bars and Lucy parallel parked directly under a street light, in clear view of crowds and windows. He grinned proudly. Seems like she did listen to him. He remembered giving her that particular advise the last time she'd driven herself to the bar and parked in a particularly dark portion of the street. She rolled her eyes at him but conceded his point. He smiled warmly at the memory. He slowed down enough to see which building she went into. It was a bar with a sleek elegant logo. The people coming in and out were in cocktail attire and he realized he was definitely not in cocktail attire. He hadn't come this far to quit now. If he could walk around hunting Al Capone in Gap jeans then he could certainly walk into a modern day bar in them. He turned and parked around the block from her so that she couldn't spot his truck so easily.
He stopped outside the front window of the bar. Careful to stay out of sight. He spotted her immediately, sitting at a table next to the stage, beaming at some guy who had his back to the window. The guy, Paul he assumed, reached across the table and placed his hand on Lucy's when she started to look her most anxious. She squeezed the other man's hand quickly before removing her hand from his.
He really shouldn't have come. This wasn't helping at all and the sinking feeling in his chest was much worse. It was knotted and twisting, leaving him feeling oddly exhausted. Just as he was about to turn and leave Lucy glanced up. Her eyes found his like there was nowhere else for them to go. Her shock turned to affection then confusion and finally anger. Shit, he was really in trouble now. She stood up so fast that she almost knocked her chair over. His eyes were glued to her as she stormed to the door, yanked it open, and came to stop in front him.
"Tell me, you didn't follow me. Please tell me you didn't," she said with a huff.
He winced and tilted his head to glance away from her thoughtfully. "I mean I could tell you I didn't, but it wouldn't exactly be true."
"What the hell, Wyatt?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him expectantly.
"Who is this guy you're on a date with?" He asked, instead of offering her an answer. "What do you really know about him?"
She rolled her eyes as realization dawned across her beautiful features. "Is that what this is about?" When he didn't answer she shook her head at him and took his hand in hers. She started to pull him toward the door but he dug his feet into the pavement.
"Whoa, what are you doing?" He asked.
"Introducing you to Paul," she said with a huff. "Come on."
He did not want to meet her date. Wyatt could tell he didn't like him just judging from the back of the guy's head. The man was wearing far too much hair product. But one look at Lucy's tired expression and he gave in. She pulled him through the restaurant and didn't stop until they'd reached the table she'd previously been sitting in front of.
Paul looked up in surprise, but his surprise quickly turned to amusement. He grinned at the both of them before he spoke. "Oh, hello. Let me guess, Wyatt, right?"
Wyatt nodded with a questioning glance at Lucy. Paul then stood and reached out to shake Wyatt's hand.
"Good to finally meet the man who got Lucy to sing again," Paul said brightly.
Lucy blushed and gave Paul a reproachful look, as if he'd just revealed too much.
"I did what?" Wyatt asked as he met Lucy's gaze.
She took a deep breath and then motioned to Paul. "Paul is a pianist and an old friend from college." She then motioned to the bar, to three other people. "That's Penny and Harry at the bar. Penny plays bass, Harry is our drummer."
Her confession about almost quitting college to join a band rushes to the forefront of his memories in an instant and he grins broadly at her. "You're in a band?"
"The very same band from college, actually," she admitted bashfully. "Turns out, they all live close by now so Paul thought we should have a reunion gig of sorts." She motioned to the stage where a piano, drums, double bass, and a microphone sat waiting for them.
"So, this isn't a date?" He asked her, as he tried not to sound relieved.
Paul laughed. "Seriously? Why would I even try that when she's so obviously-" He was cut off by Lucy's silencing glare. "You know, I think I need a refill," Paul said as he stood with his empty glass and moved to the bar with Penny and Harry.
"First of all," Lucy said with a sigh. "Even if it was a date, you did not need to stalk me-"
"I wasn't-"
"Tony is sitting in the corner acting as my security detail so save the line you have prepared about protecting me. He's got that covered," Lucy said with a confident smirk. "Second of all, we had one vague conversation about possibilities and that's where this," she paused and motioned between the two of them. "Stopped. And that's fine. A lot has happened to both of us lately, but you can't have both, Wyatt."
She was right. She was totally right, and he knew it. That's why following her felt so wrong, but for the life of him he could not stop himself. Now that he thought about it, really thought about it, why exactly was he delaying finding out what he could have with Lucy? Rittenhouse wasn't going away, neither was the looming shadow of Lucy's bullshit "legacy." It wasn't something either of them could really "adjust" to. But it would be easier to cope with...together.
"I get it," he said with a nod. "I do. I'm sorry I followed you. But as much of an idiot as I was tonight it did make me realize something."
She didn't say anything but he could see the curiosity in her eyes so he continued.
"I have no idea what we're waiting on," he told her honestly. "I was trying to give you space to deal with you mother and maybe I gave you too much. I don't know, but I've let too much time pass between the night everything went to hell and now."
She smiled slowly at him with the same look from that night where he'd told her he wasn't ready to say goodbye. His breath caught in his throat because he's just now realizing she never really responded to him in that original conversation and the thought occurs to him that maybe she was going to let him down easy. He knows, on some level, that she's interested, but is she interested enough to take a chance on his dumb ass?
"I was waiting on you to make the first move," Lucy admitted. "I didn't know how much time you needed after…" she didn't finish her sentence and she didn't need to. They both knew she was talking about his failed attempt to save Jessica and his decision to move forward with his life.
The sinking feeling that knotted his gut vanished at that confession. She was waiting on him. It was up to him. The sinking feeling was replaced with a swell of affection. Lucy was really that patient? That selfless? The answer came back to him immediately. Yes, she was.
He reached out and tucked a flyaway strand of her hair behind her ear and then let his hand fall to the curve of her neck with his thumb gently caressing her jawline. He was moving toward her before he realized it. She drew him in and usually he fought it, but not tonight. Not anymore. His lips met hers hesitantly, as if he were making sure she really wanted this. Her arms wrapped around him, sliding under his leather jacket, as she began to respond to the kiss. He was aware they were in a public place but he wasn't ready to release her from the kiss just yet. He wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss as he moved her. She let out a soft quiet whimper and the sound of it left him with a sense of contentment he hadn't felt in years. He pulled away slowly and then rested his forehead against hers.
"So, what's this about me getting you to sing again?" He asked in a whisper with his eyes still closed. He was almost afraid that if he opened his eyes this would all fade away. It would be some sort of dream or fantasy.
She pulled him close by tightening her arms around his torso, turning their embrace into a hug. A hug like only Lucy could give. She turned her head and placed a soft kiss just below his jaw. It was innocent but he still felt a thrill at the gesture.
"You got me over the hump," she replied, referencing their conversation in World War II Germany. "You got me to talk about the accident and since then I've been remembering how much I used to love music. I didn't even know I missed it until you came along. So, thank you."
"Are you any good?" He asked with a teasing smirk. He was certain she was.
She chuckled and he felt it against him. "Why don't you stay and find out for yourself, sweetheart."
"Don't mind if I do, babydoll," Wyatt answered, just before placing a reassuring kiss to her temple.
A/N: So Lucy mentions she was going to drop out of college to join a band at one point and I don't know if she played an instrument or was a vocalist or both. Don't know what genre of music they played either. But I had this vision in my head of Lucy just really loving jazz. For the history of it and emotions behind it. So I made her the lead vocalist in a jazz band. I'm probably wrong, though I doubt we'll ever find out what kind of band it was or what her role would have been in it in canon. But there it is, my take on that random bit of backstory.