Pieces of the Past

By angellwings

Running. There was always running. Emma had hired local goons this time. Big guys from some kind of underground boxing club run by Rittenhouse members. There were too many of them to stand their ground against so running it was. They rounded a corner and Wyatt groaned because these guys had managed to box them in. They were behind them and in front of them.

"Um, Wyatt?" Lucy asked in a nervous tone as she looked to him for a solution. The only option they had was up. He motioned to the nearby fire escape and hoisted Lucy up. She began to climb with Rufus just behind her. Wyatt scrambled up after them toward the roof. He heard a shout from above him as Rufus made it onto the roof and huffed once he saw what was happening for himself.

One of these guys had made it to the roof first. They'd shoved Lucy to the ground and had Rufus bent over the edge in a threat to throw him down several stories. Of course, that wasn't going to happen. Wyatt shot the man in the arm as he was trying to be more careful with kill shots these days, but he still didn't let go of Rufus. Wyatt shot him two more times in his other arm and his leg and still nothing. Yeah, okay, this guy was massive but how was this possible? He was like that knight in Monty Python that kept fighting even after blood was pouring from every limb. Rufus was now being held out further over the building so Wyatt had no choice. He took him out. Rufus stumbled to the ground with a grunt and then ran over meet them. Wyatt helped Lucy to her feet and then they were off again. Running for their lives.

Later that night when they stopped Emma, they had more questions than answers and made their way home. After changing and realizing they'd come back only 14 hours after they'd left, a surprisingly short mission for them these days, the team plus Jiya had gotten to their favorite bar just in time for happy hour. Cheap booze was usually one of the better ways to decompress after a mission. They'd settled into their booth, Jiya and Rufus on one side and Wyatt and Lucy on the other, and started talking about anything but work.

"So, Agent Christopher got a call from her son while you guys were gone and it was so surreal," Jiya said with wide eyes. "I've never heard her sound so much like a-like a-"

"Mom?" Lucy offered.

"A human," Jiya amended.

Wyatt laughed. "It's almost like that time she complimented Connor Mason. I thought we had an alternate timeline Denise Christopher for a second."

"Having had dinner with her family I can tell you that side of Agent Christopher takes some getting used to," Lucy said with a nod. "She's totally different when not with all of us."

"Well, if you worked with all of us wouldn't you be stern and distant?" Rufus asked with a smirk. "We're kinda a lot of upkeep. I mean, we steal time machines and question all of her decisions and Lucy tries to ditch her security detail-"

"One time," Lucy said immediately in an attempt to defend herself. "One time I tried to ditch them."

"It was only once because you got caught," Jiya said with a laugh. "By Wyatt."

"Believe me, I set her straight," Wyatt said with a chuckle.

It was true he did, but it may have been followed by a make out session on his couch. So, he wasn't sure if his lecture really stuck with her. It's not as though he could've helped himself though. They were yelling and then she was pouting and glaring at him and damn him if he didn't find how stubborn she was completely attractive.

Lucy grinned wickedly at him and placed a hand on his thigh under the table, with a soft squeeze. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at her smug expression. She knew she'd properly distracted him that night and she loved to hold it over his head as often as she could.

They'd been dating now for about two months and it was an interesting adjustment. Interesting because it hadn't been difficult at all. They'd slipped into an easy pattern. They'd spent most of their nights together at her place after that first make out session. There was one particular thing Wyatt kept meaning to do before having Lucy over but usually by the time he got home he was just too exhausted. But as long as that wall of evidence pertaining to Jessica's murder was still up in his bedroom, he wasn't sure having Lucy over was the best idea.

It had still taken them a while after that initial conversation of "possibilities" to get past their hang ups. Most notable of their hang ups was Jessica. Lucy had helped him move on in between their first talk and that night in his apartment just by listening to him talk about Jessica. He knew it helped her too. It got them both comfortable with talking about Jessica.

She'd been a big part of Wyatt's life and who he'd become so it was important that they could talk about her without it becoming something awkward and oppressive. He was still occasionally trying to investigate Jessica's murder but more to bring her family peace than himself. They deserved to know what happened, Jessica deserved to have her killer behind bars, but it no longer kept him from living his life. He didn't let it deny him the here and now.

None of this meant that he wanted Lucy to see his wall of articles and evidence and theories regarding Jessica's murder, though.

Lucy must have sensed he was no longer engaged in their conversation because she'd grabbed his hand under the table and given it a support squeeze. He met her eyes as she gave him a concerned glance.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," he said with a nod.

Lucy's two guards, used to be just one before she tried to ditch her detail, suddenly crossed the bar to their booth. That got Wyatt's attention immediately. Usually they kept their distance and if they were encroaching on that then something must have happened. They were standing next to the table and then a few seconds after that ushering Lucy out of the bar. Wyatt dutifully followed. Lucy shot him a frightened look that made his chest ache.

"What's going on, guys?" Wyatt asked. "What happened?"

"The security detail at the safe house found an intruder inside the building," Jeremy told Lucy gently. Jeremy was her original guard who had a much better bedside manner than his new partner, Terry.

"Oh my god," Lucy said with a furrowed brow. "Rittenhouse?"

"We're not certain right now," Jeremy told her. "We have him in custody, though, so we'll find out. Don't worry."

"The problem now," Terry said as she pushed her long blonde hair back over her shoulder. "Is that you can't stay there tonight. Maybe not ever again. Not until we figure out how this guy got into the building."

"Not ever again?" Lucy asked with wide panicked eyes. "So then where am I gonna go?"

"We've got a compound outside of town about an hour away with much better security. It's gated and well lit. We'd like to hold you there until all of this blows over," Terry answered. Jeremy sighed and shook his head in frustration and Wyatt understood why. Not even Wyatt liked the way that sounded.

"Hold her? On a compound?" Wyatt asked with a quirked brow. Lucy edged closer to him, a sure sign that she felt more than a little panicked. "Forgive me, but that kind of sounds like prison. Don't you think that's overkill? You don't even know anything about this intruder."

"It would only be until the threat has passed," Terry said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Yes," Wyatt said slowly. He was becoming more and more irritated with this situation. He continued, being sure to speak very slowly as if he were talking to a child. If Terry was going to be condescending to him then he was going to throw that right back at her. "But you don't know enough about the threat to know exactly when it will pass. You can't possibly hold her at a Homeland Security compound for an unidentified amount of time. That's ridiculous." Wyatt had placed his arm around Lucy's waist now, holding her to him, refusing to let her go. Because like hell he was going to let them isolate Lucy from everyone she knows and loves when she's feeling scared and vulnerable.

"Terry, let me talk to them," Jeremy asked. Terry looked ready to protest but when Jeremy glared at her she relented and walked away. Once she was gone Jeremy smiled sympathetically at them. "This wasn't our preferred choice," he said with a sigh. "I've been on the phone with Agent Christopher the entire time we've been in that bar. We have no other safehouses in the area. The compound isn't as bad as it sounds, Lucy. It's laid out like a camp. A camp with indoor bathrooms and air conditioning and meals prepared by a pretty fabulous chef. And yes, we don't know how long but we don't anticipate you'll be there for an extended period of time. A week at most, depending on how well this guy holds up under interrogation."

Wyatt knew some of their safehouses had been compromised during the Rittenhouse arrests. One of Christopher's agents had turned up on a list of Rittenhouse recruits. But something about this being the only option didn't sit right with Wyatt. Usually, there were failsafes for failsafes.

"Um, Wyatt?" Lucy said in a nervous tone. It was exactly how she'd said it to him in that alley earlier today. She was looking to him for a solution.

"What if she stays with me," Wyatt offered. "It's my job to keep her safe anyway, right? I've got the training and experience. This way, she stays safe without having to be ripped away from everything. It's good for her, good for you. A win-win."

Jeremy doesn't seem to really like that suggestion but he doesn't say no. "Let me call Agent Christopher."

"I'm not going," Lucy told Wyatt before Jeremy had managed to step away. "I don't care what Agent Christopher says. I'm not going." Wyatt heard Jeremy sigh tiredly before the Homeland Security agent finally made it out of earshot. "They can't make me go," Lucy sneered. He could hear the panic in her voice now and he knew she was a moment away from frustrated tears.

He pulled her against him and rubbed his hands up and down her arms soothingly. "You're not going anywhere," Wyatt promised her. He meant it too. If he had to make a run for his truck with her in tow he would. She leaned into him and rested her cheek against his shoulder. He turned his head and placed a kiss against her hair.

While Jeremy was on the phone Jiya and Rufus were finally able to reach them.

"What the hell is going on?" Rufus asked with a concerned glance at Lucy as she was curled into Wyatt.

"The security at her safehouse was compromised," Wyatt said with a sigh. "They want to relocate her."

"Relocate her where?" Jiya asked with frown. "For how long?"

"It doesn't matter," Lucy said, her words muffled against his chest. "Because I'm not going. Right, Wyatt?"

He let out a light chuckle and squeezed her tighter. "Right, Professor."

Jeremy rejoined them with a smile. Wyatt took that as a good sign.

"Agent Christopher signed off. She said you can stay with Wyatt until we figure this out. Okay, Lucy?" Jeremy said as he placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"I wasn't going anywhere anyway," Lucy muttered as she pulled her head away from Wyatt's shoulder. "But thank you," she said as she met Jeremy's gaze with a half hearted smile.

Wyatt smiled affectionately at her and then kissed the top her head. "I've got it from here," Wyatt told Jeremy. "Thanks, man."

"We're gonna go," Rufus said before he gave Lucy a friendly supportive hug. "Hang in there, okay? We'll beat these Rittenhouse bastards eventually."

"See ya, Rufus," Lucy told him as she stepped out of his hug and then gave Jiya a hug as well. "Be safe."

"You too," Jiya said with as she threw her a pointed look. "You hear me?"

Lucy chuckled and nodded. "Yes, okay, fine. I hear you."

"Ready?" Wyatt asked her as Jiya and Rufus walked away from them.

"Yes," she said as she wrapped her arms around his middle. "Let's go."

He put one arm around her shoulders as they walked to his truck. Before she climbed inside the passenger seat he pulled her close and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. Turning one kiss into two and then resting his forehead against hers.

"I was ready to run away with you if I had to," he told her with a grin. "Just so you know."

"Well, then we'd really be the Infamous Lucy & Wyatt, wouldn't we?" She asked him with a chuckle and cheeky grin.

"Sounds pretty good to me," Wyatt told her with a wink. She kissed him one last time before getting in the passenger seat. He closed the door and jogged around to the driver's side. Starting the car and taking off for his apartment immediately.

On the drive home, he realized this would mean Lucy would see the wall. The wall he'd tried to keep hidden from her. He'd just have to hope she took it in stride.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked after he'd been silent for several minutes.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He said as he tried to deflect her question.

"Wyatt, I'm serious. You have the same look now that you had earlier in the bar," she said as she placed a supportive hand on his arm. "What's going on?"

He sighed and knew he was busted. Maybe it was best to just get it out of the way? "You know how I was investigating Jessica's murder?" He asked. Which was a dumb question because of course she knew. But if she thought the question was dumb she didn't indicate that. She merely nodded and waited for him to continue. "I put all the evidence I found, whatever it was, together on a wall in my bedroom-"

"Oh, I know," Lucy said casually. "I saw it last time."

He froze and gave her a started look. "You did?"

She nodded. "You were making dinner and I kind of snooped. Sorry."

He breathed a big sigh of relief and chuckled at himself. Of course she'd seen it. She was Lucy, she was too curious for her own good sometimes. He should have known. "No, that's-that's great. I needed to hear that."

She tilted her head at him with a small supportive smile. "Did you think I'd be upset?"

"I didn't know what you'd be actually," he replied honestly.

"Jessica deserves to have her killer brought to justice, Wyatt, I understand," Lucy said as she gingerly reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. "I only worried when it seemed that was all you could think about and you haven't been like that for a long time now. It's okay, really."

He briefly looked away from the road to give her an awed look and kiss her the palm of her hand that had been running through his hair. "God, you're wonderful," he said in amazement. "You really are."

"No, I'm not," she said with a self deprecating laugh. "I just care a lot about you. I want you to be happy, Wyatt."

He knew he was well on his way to falling in love with her, but her support in that moment pushed him over the edge. He was officially head over heels for Lucy Preston.

They parked outside of his building and he took her hand as they walked inside, his fingers intertwined with hers. He felt more relaxed than ever now that the reason he'd kept her out of his apartment no longer stood between them. Maybe he'd get her to help him take that wall down tonight. Pack away the evidence in a well organized box so that he could still look through it if he happened to catch a break in the case.

He unlocked his apartment door and allowed Lucy to lead the way inside. He shut and bolted the door behind him. He was happy to have her there with him but the reason she was there wasn't forgotten. He'd made a mental note of where he'd stashed his sidearm so he'd know how to reach it quickly.

"Do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Lucy asked. "I really don't want to sleep in my jeans."

He nodded. "Top drawer has sweats and t-shirts. Help yourself," he said with a wink as he motioned to his bedroom at the end of the hall. Lucy nodded and headed back that way, after a few minutes he heard her call out his name. He was there in a flash partially afraid something serious had happened, but he found her simply standing there staring at his bedroom wall. Finally he asked her, "What's up?"

"I thought you said you left the wall up?" She asked him with a furrowed brow.

That's when he realized the wall she was staring at was the wall where his map of evidence and articles had been. There was nothing there. The wall was completely empty. "I did leave it up. It was all there last night."

Lucy stepped closer to the wall to examine it and she stepped away looking even more confused. "There aren't even any holes where thumbtacks might have been. It's almost as if your wall never existed."

Lucy ran a hand over the wall as she tried to find any small holes but the wall was perfectly unmarked.

"You sure you didn't take it down?" She asked.

"Pretty sure, yeah."

"If you had taken it down—"

"I didn't."

She gave an exasperated look and sighed. "Humor me?"

"Fine," he said with a shake of his head, this was too strange.

"If you had taken it down, where would you have put the evidence and the news clippings?" She asked him.

"I had a box in the corner that I was saving for it," he answered as his looked to the corner and realized the box was gone too. "Which has disappeared. What is going on?"

Lucy bit her lip thoughtfully for a moment before she held out her hand to him. "Where's your phone?"

He took it out of his back jean pocket and placed it in her hand. He watched her carefully as she punched in his access code, which he didn't realize she knew, and then started searching his contacts. When she was done with that she pulled up the Facebook app he never used, and a second later she spoke. Sounding wary and nervous and more reluctant than he'd ever heard her.

"Wyatt, Jessica is alive."

What? He asked himself. How could that be? Where was she? Why did everything else in his apartment look exactly the same as it had always been? There was no trace of her in his life at all. He was very confused and strangely...relieved. Though that felt wrong, as if it shouldn't be allowed, so he went back to being confused and conflicted.

Lucy placed the phone back in his hands revealing a Facebook page for Jessica Ferguson. The picture was definitely of Jess. His Jess.

A/N: heh. I got you didn't I? You thought this story was gonna be about the break in and the obvious hole in security right? wrong. ;) Part 2 coming tomorrow! Thanks for reading!