Notes:

This fic has been in the works since last summer and while I'm not as far along as I'd like to be before publishing this first chapter, I'm making myself do it so that I will be motivated to finish it. This was written per request of a dear friend of mine and I want to make sure I make good on my promise to her. I hope that you all enjoy this piece. It's definitely been a challenge...there are so many issues that I've had to work around to make this plausible.

Katie, thank you for asking me to write this...I hope you will not be disappointed.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 1

Wyatt stared at the ceiling in his quiet and darkened apartment, the subdued sounds of early morning drifting through his open window. He wasn't sure what time it was, he only knew that he hadn't gotten one bit of sleep before his phone began buzzing steadily on his nightstand. With one glance at the screen, he breathed out a curse and rolled out of bed and headed towards his bathroom. There was no need to answer the call, no need to check the accompanying text message…it was such a common occurrence these days to be summoned in at all hours, he didn't need to verify with anyone at Mason Industries to know that there was, indeed, a new mission on the docket.

A quick shower, a change of clothes and before he knew it, Wyatt was jamming his keys into the ignition of his Jeep with an angry huff. It had been less than 24 hours since the last mission and he was getting called back in to chase Garcia Flynn in some other God-forsaken point in time.

Well, not just him.

Lucy and Rufus were getting called in as well, but at the moment, Wyatt wasn't too pleased with either of them. They had lied to him. Repeatedly. And as far as trust was concerned, his in them had been thoroughly shaken…something he never thought would happen after that Alamo mission.

That Alamo operation had been just two missions ago, but now, it felt like it had been a damn lifetime since his team had stood by his side refusing to go on without him. The disillusionment and disappointment of yesterday had made it feel that the actual difference of 180 years had been lived through and then some.

The day of the Alamo mission had started off pretty shitty. He had just been told that he was being replaced…but not before he had one last chance at taking out that sonofabitch, Garcia Flynn. It was fitting that that mission had him back in Texas, among the heroes he had heard about growing up. Their desperate last stand hit a little too close to home as this mission was his last stand; his last opportunity to prove himself before he would be handed his walking papers and sent back to Pendleton in disgrace.

He really couldn't blame Homeland Security for letting him go…Garcia Flynn was still wreaking havoc through time, after all, despite the many chances he had at taking him out. He was really surprised he hadn't been canned after the Vegas '62 mission when Flynn had made off with a nuclear core. The point was, he had failed repeatedly and as the Alamo mission began to go to hell, he began to realize that he was going to have to face Agent Christopher and a slew of Homeland Security agents…hell, even his own Commanding Officer at Pendleton and own up to the fact that he had not lived up to his reputation.

It had been too much for him to take in that moment, surrounded by memories of Syria…how he had taken that mission in the first place, because of the loss of Jess…how even when he didn't care about his own life, he was forced to live with the fact that he survived while other men…better men, died.

As the bullets from the Mexican army came pelting down and he saw men, both old and young, fighting desperately in a battle he knew they were going to lose, he knew he couldn't…he wouldn't be able to walk away this time. To live with that guilt again? To be the lone survivor of yet another desperate mission?

What the hell did he have to go home to anyway?

And then, suddenly just as he was about to give everything up, there was Lucy…to remind him that he wasn't alone. That it didn't matter that he was replaceable…expendable, to Homeland Security, he mattered to her…and to Rufus.

He mattered.

It had been a long time since he had mattered to anyone. Since Jess' death, he had just been another grunt, another soldier…another cog in the military machine. Lucy didn't care that there was another one of his kind waiting in the wings, she "didn't want anybody else", she needed him, trusted him…and for the first time in a long time he felt like maybe he needed them too.

Wyatt scoffed at how damn naïve he had been.

For one brief moment, he had felt like he had more than a team, he had a family. As they stood defending him to Homeland Security, refusing to continue the missions without him, Wyatt had felt the full measure of their loyalty and trust in him. He wasn't sure what he had done to deserve it, he was pretty damn sure with Lucy, especially, he had skated on pretty thin ice…he still couldn't believe she agreed to work with him after he took that risky shot at Garcia Flynn in front of the fiery wreckage of the Hindenburg, yet here she was, passionately declaring that he, Wyatt Logan – the reckless hothead, "made the right decision every single time."

Well…not every time…their last mission was proof of that.

It had been pure hell. Not even a few minutes into their cover as White House correspondents, the entire team was taken by Flynn and his band of assholes. Lucy and Rufus were forced to go it alone, trying to take care of whatever it was that Flynn wanted them to do while Wyatt's life hung in the balance. He didn't particularly care about that…he had been in tough positions before…it was what came after that stung.

Rufus, as it turned out, had been secretly recording their conversations for a shady organization known as Rittenhouse. Their pilot, the man who had time and time again complained about traveling through time and risking his life on these missions, had been spying on them.

Even with all of his training, Wyatt had to admit, he was blindsided by that one.

But that was nothing compared to what had come just before that bombshell.

Wyatt had known that Garcia Flynn, the terrorist he was supposed to kill, had spoken to Lucy after the Hindenburg had come crashing down. It was he who had told Lucy to ask Homeland Security about Rittenhouse in the first place…he who had first given them any kind of indication that there were darker forces at work than just a psychotic madman with a time machine. What he didn't know was that Garcia Flynn was being urged on in his quest for vengeance by the journal of none other than Lucy Preston.

Lucy denied knowing anything about the journal…claimed she hadn't written it…her future self had…but Flynn had also said they had had several chats…not just the one he knew about. No. Apparently, she and Flynn had talked privately on nearly every damn mission…and damn it all if her betrayal hadn't stung all the more. He didn't want to spend too much thinking about why it bothered him so much that Flynn and Lucy seemed to be in some kind of cahoots together. It wasn't that he believed Lucy was some kind of double agent…no way in hell could she be that good of an actress…it was the closeness Flynn alluded to that got under his skin.

Lucy, what have you told him about us?

Us. Just the idea of the them made Wyatt's blood boil.

It should have bothered him more that Rufus was a spy…a double agent of sorts…recording their conversations secretly and handing them over to this Rittenhouse for God knows what reason. It should have bothered him more that Flynn and his psychotic ravings were starting to make some sense; that this Rittenhouse he kept accusing of his family's murder actually did exist.

But no, that's not what really got him riled.

It was bad enough to learn that Lucy had lied, that she and Flynn had had conversations that he didn't know about. It was upsetting to learn that he was using her journal as a roadmap for his murderous rampage through history. But the real kicker, the one that had been the sucker punch to his gut, was Flynn's coy remark that he and Lucy were going to be "quite the team one day."

What the hell did that mean?

To think that Lucy, his Lucy would someday be working hand in hand with that mad man…but that was just the thing. She wasn't his Lucy.

She was just Lucy.

So why the hell did it bother him so much?

Because she was supposed to be on his team?

Yes. That was it…it had to be. Lucy was just his team mate, his partner in this, not Flynn's. So what if that sonofabitch had her journal? Like she said, she hadn't given it to him.

Or had she?

Flynn maintained that Lucy would give him that journal…that she was going to write it a few years from now and Lucy, though she claimed it was a fake, had told Flynn that it was her handwriting.

He had been trained to withstand all types of prisoner interrogation methods, but sitting there, alone with Flynn in that room while he read out sections of Lucy's journal almost broke him. Flynn, relating the story of his own family's murder, the loss that he had suffered...Wyatt had to admit that, despite all of that training, this one was pretty damn tough. Hearing Flynn talk about the moment his family was murdered…he understood that pain…the rage that came afterwards…but he could not allow himself to sympathize with Garcia Flynn. He was the enemy…who was apparently being led on his quest for vengeance by Lucy.

He had been so careful not to mention the particulars of Jessica's murder to her. He had surprised himself when he mentioned her death at all to this…stranger…as she was during the 1937 mission, but no way in hell had he planned on telling her that he had left Jessica on the side of that damn road, that he had driven off in the middle of the night leaving her exposed and helpless. Yet, as he sat there, handcuffed to that chair, Flynn smugly perched in front of him and read off Lucy's detailed description of that night, even including the fight at the damn bar. He had no idea how she knew it, was mortified that she had included it in there to be read by Flynn of all people, but if that hadn't been enough to shake him to his core, her admonition at the end of that entry had more than made up for it.

He needs to let go and move on.

Why the hell would Lucy put that in her journal? What was it to her if he had moved on from Jessica or not?

And why the hell did it bother him so damn much?

Hardly knowing whether or not he wanted the answers to those questions, he pulled into the parking lot of Mason Industries. In either case, he found he was in no mood to entertain any thought regarding Lucy Preston. Wrenching open the door and making his way down the hall, he stopped short at the sight of Lucy and Rufus who were already there and standing awkwardly to the side of the mission control desk, watching him.

Staring at them hard for a moment, Wyatt made his way towards Agent Christopher and without offering either of his team mates any kind of greeting or acknowledgement he asked, "What are we looking at?"

"Oh good, Wyatt…you're here." Agent Christopher muttered without looking up from her folder. "We've got an interesting one this time. Lucy, do you mind running down the particulars?"

Heaving a sigh, Wyatt turned reluctantly to Lucy who was obviously agitated and bothered by Wyatt's cold demeanor. "Well…um…it seems that Flynn has decided to jump to September 14, 1754…but I have no idea why." She shrugged, offering him a slight smile…one that Wyatt didn't return. Her face flushing, she cleared her throat and explained, "I mean, I'm sure he wants to do something terrible…I just don't know what. Anything of importance in 1754 during the French and Indian War happened earlier that year."

When Wyatt continued to stay silent, Rufus shifted awkwardly and asked Lucy, "What kind of things?"

"Well, she began, doing her best to get Wyatt interested in the conversation, "there was the Battle of Fort Necessity and the Battle of Jumonville Glen which…"

"What does it matter if they aren't the reason Flynn went there?" Wyatt sighed with a roll of his eyes. Lucy bit her lip and looked back at him, sheepishly and in that one short moment Wyatt felt bad for cutting her off…then he remembered why he was so upset with her to begin with and shook his head. No. He was not going to allow his soft spot for Lucy Preston to knock him off his guard. She had as good as lied to him, had kept important intel to herself, and had had who knows how many conversations with Garcia Flynn. He couldn't trust her and from now on he was going to keep both Lucy and Rufus at an arm's distance. He sighed heavily and stalked away, muttering as he went, "I'm going to get changed."

Agent Christopher looked up abruptly from her folder, "Is there a problem?" she asked.

Lucy and Rufus exchanged nervous looks before she frowned slightly and shook her head, "No…" she lied, "not that I'm aware of."

Agent Christopher raised her eyebrows at Lucy's answer, her eyes following the path Wyatt had made towards the locker rooms, "Well, if there is a problem, see that you do whatever it is you need to do to fix this. You all are a team and if you can't work together then we're going to need to find a team that can. Is that clear?"

Lucy and Rufus nodded their heads in acknowledgement and headed off to change into their own 18thcentury clothes. Separating with a nod, Rufus entered the locker room as Wyatt was pulling his shirt over his head. "Hey, um…Wyatt. How you doing, man?" Rufus asked uneasily.

Wyatt grunted in return, looking as if the last thing he wanted to do was talk to Rufus. Rufus really didn't blame him for being angry; he wasn't exactly proud that he was being coerced into spying on his team. Still, he hated the thought of going on a mission with Wyatt so obviously upset.

He was their protection, after all.

"Look, I know I royally screwed up, but…I didn't really have a choice." Wyatt glared at him as he tugged on his 18thcentury jacket. "They threatened my family, Wyatt. What the hell was I supposed to do?"

Wyatt secured his breeches and slid on his shoes, slamming his locker shut with a deafening clang. Rufus thought that may be all the response he was going to get from the Delta Force soldier, but before he left the locker room, Wyatt stopped and called to Rufus over his shoulder, "You could've trusted me. Like I trusted you."

Rufus looked back at him shamefaced and apologetic as Wyatt wrenched open the door. He was making his way back down the hall when he ran into Agent Christopher, "Wyatt, is there a problem?"

Wyatt sighed heavily, "No ma'am. Not one that I can't work through with some time."

She studied him with a keen eye before observing, "Did something happen on the last mission that you haven't told me about?"

Wyatt's face went stony. He hated that he had to lie to his superior officer, but there was nothing he could do. If she was somehow involved with this Rittenhouse, then who knows what would happen if Rufus's secret was exposed? Clearing his throat, Wyatt murmured, "No ma'am it was just a rough mission, that's all."

She pursed her lips and nodded her head. Whether she knew Wyatt was keeping the truth from her or not, remained to be seen. He half-expected her to grill him on the particulars of the Watergate mission, but instead, she switched gears, "In my line of work, I've seen all kinds of people work together to meet an objective." She smiled slightly, a rare thing for the Homeland Security Agent, and added, "I never thought the three of you would actually work together as a team…you all come from such different backgrounds and fields of expertise… but you have surprised me."

Wyatt merely nodded in mock agreement. She couldn't know the level of betrayal he felt and what the team had kept from him. Hell, what they all were keeping from her.

"I want to thank you." she said after a few moments. "Your influence on the team has been very apparent."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes at her in confusion, "How…how do you mean?"

"Well, from what I understand, Rufus Carlin rarely left his desk before these missions began. Now he's fighting next to the likes of Davy Crockett at the Alamo. And with you…indisposed on the last mission, he really came through…at least that's what I was told during the debrief." Wyatt nodded as she pressed on, "And then there's Lucy." At the mention of her name, Wyatt bristled visibly, something that was not lost on Agent Christopher. With a meaningful look, Agent Christopher asked, "Is there something going on between the two of you?"

Wyatt absolutely gaped at her, "No!" he blurted out a little too quickly. "Why would you think that?"

Agent Christopher shrugged, "Well, she defended you, refused to do the missions without you…"

"She trusts me." Wyatt said quietly, trying not to think about that moment when she pulled him back from the brink…particularly since now he could not say the same about her. "That's all."

Agent Christopher eyed him suspiciously, before slowly nodding her head and observing, "Yes, well…as I said she has come a long way since that first mission. She's more confident, more assertive, more sure of herself…and I think that's all thanks to you."

Wyatt couldn't help but feel a little beam of pride at that statement. He remembered how scared she was on that first mission, how terrified she had been in Nazi Germany, how she had opened up to him about her accident, and then thanked him for helping to get her over the hump. He sighed as he brushed those feelings of rapport away. She was not his friend, she was his team mate. Friends wouldn't lie to each other and keep things from one another. He cleared his throat and with stony face he replied, "I just treat her like I do any other soldier in the field. I saw that there was an issue and I helped her with it…told her she needed to figure out what she was fighting for."

Agent Christopher's mouth curled up into a hint of a smile. "So, it was you." she remarked with a meaningful nod. At Wyatt's confused expression she explained, "Lucy came to me with terms regarding her continuation with these missions. She told me that someone had told her to figure out what they were fighting for…and well, she apparently has."

'What do you mean?" Wyatt asked despite himself.

"She didn't tell you?" Agent Christopher asked in genuine surprise. At Wyatt's blank expression, Agent Christopher shrugged, "She wants Mason's team to work on a plan to restore her sister. She's fighting for Amy."

For Lucy, the ordeal of changing into her era appropriate attire was a little more involved what with the corsets and the many layers. What would take mere minutes in the present time, took at least a half an hour, if not more for her…even with Jiya's assistance. The chemise, the petticoat, the stockings, and the stays all had to be meticulously fitted with buttons, laces and garters.

Jiya was just helping her into her dress when a soft knock came to the conference room door followed by a hushed voice, "Lucy, are…are you ready?"

"I'll be out in a minute, Rufus." Lucy called out as Jiya began working the buttons on the back of her gown.

"Oh…okay." he responded awkwardly, "I'll just be here…waiting for you."

Lucy let out a dry chuckle as she nervously tapped her fingers on the table. Jiya, never ceasing her work, let out a nervous laugh of her own, "I guess that means Wyatt is still pretty mad at you guys, huh?"

"So, it would seem." Lucy muttered absent-mindedly before starting to attention in a state of slight panic, "Wait a minute, did Rufus tell you what happened?"

"No…it was just blatantly obvious after you guys got back from '72." Jiya pursed her lips together, unsure if she should continue, but curiosity got the better of her, "What did happen anyway?"

Lucy let out an exasperated sigh, "Ugh…it's complicated." She looked up at Jiya, desperate to talk to someone, anyone about this. "I can trust you, right?"

"Absolutely." Jiya said with a solemn nod. "Those NDAs are no joke."

Lucy smiled remembering when she, herself, was brought onto the missions and forced to sign the non-disclosure agreement. It seemed like so long ago and since that time she felt like she was cut off from the life she once knew…and not just because she had found herself in a new timeline with no sister.

No.

Since she had added time travel to her curriculum vitae, hers was a lonely existence outside of Mason. Once able to talk to her mother about everything, she now found that nearly every question, every subject was taboo. She couldn't even talk about past, shared memories with her mother, because this one didn't remember a life with Amy and Henry Wallace…and to even hint at that would violate her sworn obligation to keep this whole messy situation, a secret.

Grateful, then to have someone other than Wyatt and Rufus to talk to, Lucy let out a shaky sigh, "Flynn…has my journal. That's why he stole the Mothership, it's why he goes where he goes." Jiya's hands stilled as a look of confusion stole across her face, but Lucy charged on, "But I never wrote a journal like that…"she scoffed, "I mean, how could I?"

"So…this journal, it talks about these missions…or history?" Jiya asked.

"The missions" Lucy breathed out incredulously. "I think…I know…it's insane. I mean, that journal means that we've…."

"Done all this before." Jiya responded in amazement. "How long have you known?"

"Since the Hindenburg." Lucy muttered softly.

"So, I'm guessing Wyatt found out about this journal on the last mission?"

Lucy nodded before exclaiming, "You understand, right? It wasn't like I didn't want to tell him, I just…I didn't want to believe it was true." Lucy scoffed, "Why would I give Flynn my journal? When did I even write it? How did he even get it?" Lucy asked as Jiya's fingers worked the buttons up Lucy's back. "It makes no sense."

"Did you know Flynn before all of this?" Jiya asked tentatively.

"No! Lucy exclaimed. "I'd never seen him before in my life until I got called in here." She bit her lip in thought, "Why would he have myjournal?" Lucy looked up at Jiya with pleading eyes as she pinned back her hair. "He keeps saying it says we're going to be quite the team someday. Jiya, what if that means I'm going to…be like him? I'm not a killer….I'm…I'm…"

"Just a teacher?" Jiya asked with raised eyebrows. Lucy nodded silently and Jiya let out a laugh, "Just a teacher who travels through time."

"Right." Lucy breathed out nervously.

"Maybe he stole it, Lucy. Maybe Flynn is lying about what it says in there…I mean, have you read it?"

"No…but the handwriting…" Lucy began miserably, "the handwriting is definitely mine." Lucy sighed, "And now Wyatt is angry because he thinks I don't trust him, he thinks Flynn and I are in some kind of cahoots, and…"

"He's jealous?" Jiya asked with raised eyebrows.

"Je…what do you mean jealous?" Lucy asked innocently.

Jiya shrugged, attempting, but failing to hide a smirk, "Oh, nothing…I just thought that maybe he didn't like the idea of you and Flynn being a team because…"

"Oh…no. No." Lucy said with an adamant shake of her head, letting out a derisive laugh. "No…he's dead set on getting his wife back. I mean, he sent her a telegram in 1962."

Jiya nodded her head, a hint of disbelief on her face. If Lucy noticed her skepticism, she didn't let on. Jiya put the finishing touches on Lucy's hair and stepped away to admire her handiwork. Lucy got up to leave, but turned before reaching the conference room door, "You promise you won't tell Agent Christopher about any of this?"

Jiya sealed her lips together and made a motion as if she were securing a lock next to her lips. I'm sworn to secrecy." she said simply. She gave a nervous glance around the conference room before asking in a low voice, "But why is Wyatt mad at Rufus?"

Lucy's shoulders slumped down, the last mission fresh in her mind. Wyatt wasn't the only one blindsided by Rufus' revelation that he had been secretly taping their missions, she had been just as shocked, if not more so, by his admittance. She hadn't wanted to believe that Rittenhouse was real, but after meeting The Doc and discovering that Rufus had been ordered to spy on them, there was no escaping the grim reality that whatever Rittenhouse was, it was real.

Not wanting to burden Jiya with the truth, especially if Rufus hadn't felt compelled to, Lucy lied, "I'm not sure. Maybe he thinks Rufus knew about the journal too."

Jiya nodded at her slowly, looking entirely unconvinced by Lucy's statement, but didn't want to press the issue further. Not that there was time to do so. The minute Lucy wrenched open the door, Rufus was there, agitated and waiting. At the sight of the two women staring back at him, he looked suddenly embarrassed, "I'm…I'm sorry, I just…um…I just…"

"Didn't want to be alone with Wyatt?" Lucy asked as she gathered her skirts and made her way down the stairs of the conference room. "Did he talk to you at all?"

"Oh yeah, he talked to me. If you count hitting me with the biggest guilt trip of my life before storming out of the locker room, talking to me then, yeah." Rufus muttered rapidly as they made their way to the time machine. "You know, we've had some pretty sucky missions…but I'm pretty sure this one is going to rank right up there with the suckiest."

"Look on the bright side, Rufus." Lucy sighed, "There's not much there, besides Fort Duquesne, so that means, we have a pretty good idea of where we need to go to find out what Flynn is up to."

"Oh great, another fort out in the middle of nowhere." Rufus muttered as he tugged at his coat.

"This is not like the Alamo." Lucy assured, "There were some awful battles around the fort earlier in 1754, but there's not another battle at Fort Duquesne until September 14, 1758."

"Wait." Rufus said as he stopped in his tracks, "What if Flynn meant to go to 1758…I mean, September 14th…that's four years exactly."

Lucy shrugged, "Well, if he picked the wrong year, then it'll be a very quick trip."

Rufus bit his lip in thought, "What if…well, you know that nuclear core he picked up in Vegas 1962?" Lucy nodded as Rufus continued, "What if he wants us to go to 1754, so that he can jump immediately to 1758 and screw up…."

"The Battle of Fort Duquesne?" Lucy finished for him, "You mean, you think this mission is a diversion? A red herring?"

Rufus stared back at her blankly, "I don't know…but if he's using that core the way I think he is, he can jump from time to time…we can't…not without a recharge."

"We're burning daylight, people!" Agent Christopher's voice yelled out from across the lab.

"How long does it take for a recharge?" Lucy asked Rufus quietly as they made their way towards the metal staircase.

"A couple of hours." Rufus muttered as he looked nervously behind him.

"Can we track the mothership from the Lifeboat…know when and if it leaves?" Lucy asked breathlessly.

"Well, yeah." Rufus frowned. "The LifeBoat is linked to the Mothership in case of emergencies."

"Okay, well…if we go and it is a diversion, we'll just make sure we get back here as soon as we can and go after him in 1758." she muttered as they made their way up the stairs together.

"More secrets?" Wyatt spat out with a huff. His was already buckled in his seat, his head thrown back and his eyes closed as if wishing that he were anywhere but in that time machine.

Lucy and Rufus exchanged dark looks as they began adjusting their own harnesses. Lucy cleared her throat nervously, "Um…no, we were just talking about…"

"Fine." Wyatt interrupted coldly. "Let's just get the hell out of here, Rufus."

Rufus cast a nervous glance at Lucy and began punching in the coordinates, muttering under his breath, "Oh yeah, this is gonna be swell."