A Time of Thanks and Giving

Story begins some time after "The Day Reagan Was Shot", but before "The General".

***

In the bunker, time stops. Days meld together, one after another. Weeks go by with nothing changing. The walls are green, the lights are yellow, and the team endures long spans of utter boredom. Only when the alarm sounds do the Time Team get geared up for action, following after the Mothership, wherever and whenever it goes.

Rufus has rigged a Hulu TV system, but both TV's are pretty old, and the picture is always fuzzy. The one in his and Jiya's room is color, but the one in the main room is only black and white. Rufus, Jiya and Connor spend most of their time working on the Lifeboat. Wyatt and Jessica disappear into his room right after breakfast and don't come out until dinnertime. When he's not out scouting the bunker, Flynn is usually in his room, sitting in his comfy chair, reading anything Denise has brought down to them. Most of the time, Lucy is sitting on his bed reading, trying to stay out of everyone else's way.

Flynn hears the bunkers main doors open and as usual, goes to check it out. Denise comes into the bunker carrying a huge box. She has a large duffle bag over her shoulder. She sees Flynn and indicates a second box on the floor. "Grab that for me, will you?" The smell wafting from the boxes gives it away instantly. He motions to Lucy to come join them and goes to grab the second box. By the time they reach the kitchen, the whole group has come to meet them.

Like a pack a ravenous wolves the Time Team descends on the boxes of food. Each item is shouted out by the person opening it - Pumpkin pie. Apple pie. Cranberries. Sweet Potatoes. Green bean salad. Mashed potatoes. Turkey. Gravy. Ham. Biscuits.

A loud piercing whistle makes everyone cringe, but all eyes are on Agent Christopher. "Manners people!" She glares at them ready to shout anyone down. "Wyatt Jessica - Clear the table. Rufus Jiya - Grab the tablecloth from the box and set it up when the table's clear. Flynn - Go get the glasses and silverware. Mason - Pour the wine. Lucy - Start opening the paper plates and set the table."

No one moves. Rufus is the first to ask. "Is it Thanksgiving?"

Denise doesn't have to deal with the constant seclusion, she gets to go home to her wife and kids, watch the news, go outside, but she understands the difficulties. She cares about her 'bunker children' and can sympathize with everything they endure to stop Rittenhouse. "Yeah. Yesterday was Thanksgiving."

"OK people. The longer we stand here, the cooler the food gets. Go on now." Conner has taken over. Everyone goes to do their assigned tasks. In no time at all the table is set. Conner is handing out glasses of wine. Denise is opening the food and placing them on the kitchen counter. Flynn helps her finish while the finishing touches on the table are being made.

Everyone stands back and just looks at the festive table. It's not much, a plastic cornucopia table cloth and matching paper plates and napkins, mismatched chairs and glasses, and two votive candles Jiya ran and got from her room. But it's something different, and that makes it special.

The table is too small to hold all the food, so everyone forms a line and loads up their plate before sitting down. Denise and Connor take the heads of the table; Rufus, Jiya, and Wyatt on one side, Jessica, Flynn, then Lucy on the other side. Everyone is eating and chatting happily before talk turns to each of their Thanksgiving memories. Lucy remembers the big formal family dinners. Rufus had the simple family get togethers in the small apartment in western Chicago. Mason talks about his first Thanksgiving at a friend's house in America.

Denise is watching everyone. It's so rare to find them smiling lately. "So how about we start a new bunker tradition." Everyone looks to her, giving her the space to speak. "These last few months have been pretty hard on all of you. How about we all say something we're thankful for."

They all look at each other, before Connor eventually clears his throat. "Well, I'll start. I'm thankful for this absolutely delicious wine. Pickings were getting pretty slim in here lately." Denise gives him one of her 'behave' looks. He clears his throat and tries again. "What I'm thankful for... I'm thankful that we're all still alive, and able to sit together and have this wonderful meal." He doesn't say it, but everyone knows he holds himself responsible for every death related to his time machine. From the twenty-two workers who died when his company exploded, to all the deaths throughout time by both Rittenhouse and his teammates. All of it because he just had to make a time machine without thinking of the consequences. Lucy leans over and grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze of support. He raises his glass, and everyone joins him in a toast.

Rufus is sitting clock-wise to him and goes next. "I'm thankful I got to get to know all of you. From meeting Connor when I was still in high school, to the first day Jiya came to work at Mason Industries. Getting thrown together with Wyatt and Lucy in those early terrifying days. Slowly getting to know and trust Denise. And finally getting to meet Jessica, after hearing Wyatt talk about her all the time. You've become my best friends, and without all of this, I never would have meet most of you. So, I'm thankful for that." Lucy puts her hand on Flynn, letting him know he's not totally left out. Everyone drinks a toast again.

Jiya looks around nervously. Not one to like being put on the spot like this. "I guess I'm also thankful for getting to know all of you. But I'm really thankful I got to work for Mason Industries. Connor never thought there was something I couldn't do, even when I didn't think I could do it. And it also was how I met Rufus. The most wonderful man in the world, even if he is a Star Wars fan." She crinkles up her nose and laughs at him. Rufus kisses her and the team raises their glasses.

Wyatt looks at all of them around the table, except at Lucy. His eyes settle on Jessica. "I'm thankful I got a second chance with my wife. I was lost for years, but now thanks to all this..." He indicates the Lifeboat sitting quietly in the next room. "I can make up for all the times I disappointed her."

Jessica leans over the table and kisses him. Flynn squeezes Lucy's hand under the table, reciprocating the support from earlier. "It's been a bizarre few weeks, that's for sure. But I do love the man you've become." More kissing and they all raise their glasses and toasts them happy couple. Wyatt and Jessica take their seats again.

Denise looks between Jiya and Lucy. I'm thankful for my family. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I married the man my mother arranged for me. I'm so thankful my friends were there to show me all the possibilities that I couldn't see. Thank you all for that." Connor is going around the table refilling the wine glasses before they all drink to Denise.

All eyes fall on Flynn. A snarky response is on the tip of his tongue. He looks around the table. Lucy gives him a nod and a smile of encouragement. He takes a deep breath and licks his lips. "I'm thankful I'm not alone anymore. Not forgotten in solitary confinement. And not fighting Rittenhouse alone, literally trying to save the world with no one at my back. I'm thankful for dat." His face remains completely neutral, but his accent thickens as he gets to the end.

They all stare at him. They've known him mostly as the enemy, the psychopath murdering across time. Thinking what the Time Team has accomplished so far, but then trying to imagine it was just one person. Alone. No one says anything, the team is either staring at their laps, or at Garcia Flynn. Rufus coughs. "That was... ummmm. I think we all appreciate your snarky responses a bit more now." He gives the older man a trademarked head nod. Flynn returns it. Glasses are raised once more.

Lucy palms are starting to sweat. It's her turn. She's lost so much. She's endured so much. She can't even think of anything to be thankful for. She's lost everything. Flynn nudges her thigh under the table. He catches her eye and knows something is wrong. He's about to start talking to try and cover for her. She just blurts it out. "I'm thankful... I'm thankful for." God, why is this so hard? "I'm thankful I'm here fighting besides all of you. What we go through is horrible. But I'd rather be here with you, tired and bruised, than living normal lives not ever knowing we could just disappear from time at any moment. I'd rather be fighting for what I care about, than living happily in a world that could just poof one day. I guess that's what I'm thankful for."

The rest of the meal is spent laughing and eating. When the last of the pies are gone and everyone is stuffed Denise clears her throat. "I know how difficult this has been for all of you. So, Michelle and I have been doing some shopping. Consider them 'Thanksgiving Presents' if you will." She opens the large duffel she brought with her and digs out two small boxes wrapped in gold and silver wrapping paper. She hands on to Rufus and the other to Jiya. They both look at each other, unsure of what to do. Then Jiya smirks, and they tear into the gifts like children on Christmas morning.

Jiya looks at her Farscape DVD box set. Rufus looks at his Babylon 5 DVDs the same way. They look to see what the other one got and then look at each other. Rufus hands his DVDs to Jiya and she trades with him. "OMG! Babylon 5 is so awesome. You could write a novel on just the geo-political aspects of the series. Lucy would love it. Can we binge this one first? Thank you so much. And tell Michelle to, would you?"

Everyone is laughing. Denise accepts the thanks. "We were close. That counts, right? I'm glad you enjoy them." She digs into her bag and brings out another box with dark green wrapping paper. "This one is for Wyatt and Jessica." She hands it to Wyatt.

Jessica hops up and crosses to the other side of the table. "What is it? Open it." She's grinning down at her husband as he starts ripping paper off the gift.

"No way!! James Bond 'Weapon of Choice'! The book and the DVD! I've wanted to read this since..." He lets the end of the sentence hang, not know how to put that into words.

Jessica is looking at him like he lost his mind. "What are you talking about? You've read all the James Bond books, and seen the movies. This is the one with Sean Connery and the Nazi missile. I've seen this with you like a dozen times." She looks around the table, everyone is grinning. "What?"

"That movie didn't exist in our original timeline. We've never heard of it until we got back from Nazi Germany." Lucy is filling her in on the strange reaction they are giving her.

Jess looks around again. "But we've seen this TOGETHER. It's the one with the American spies. Lucy was so hot in that lake scene. She had the villain and Bond wrapped around her finger the whole movie. And Rufus, he was your favori..." Her eyes flick to Rufus. Then to Lucy. "Lucy. Wyatt. And Rufus. Oh My God. That was YOU guys??" Flynn reaches across the table to grab the DVD, checking out the cover art and the actors names. Jess looks at Flynn. "Were you in it to?"

Lucy suddenly grabs the DVD out of Flynn's hands. He's grinning mischievously down at her. He answers Jessica's question without breaking eye contact with Lucy. "Yup. I was the villain."

"I did not sleep with Ian Fleming! OK. We're not watching this!" Lucy looks flustered.

Flynn isn't letting go of an opportunity to tease her. "But the lake scene??" She punches him on the shoulder.

Jess is still trying to figure out how Wyatt has never seen this when they watched it together. "No way! Weapon of Choice has arguably the best bond villain ever." Wyatt grabs the DVD back from Lucy.

The argument is tabled as Denise carries a box over to Connor. "We found this at a flea market and thought it would be perfect for you." The box is placed on the table in front of him.

"Oh my. You shouldn't have. It was so sweet of you to think of ..."

Jiya interrupts him. "Open it already. I wanna see what it is!"

Connor harrumps at her but he starts opening the gift. It's a box of old blues records. "Oh my. This is perfect. Thank you so much."

"We weren't sure if you had them already or not, so we took a chance."

He's riffling though the dozen or so old records. "Actually, I did have most of these, before I was forced to ... downsize. It will be good to hear them again. Thank you so much Denise."

"You are very welcome, Connor. Thank you for everything you do here." She goes and gets another box with blue and silver wrapping. She hands it to Flynn. "I had to do some digging in your NSA files, hope you don't mind."

Flynn looks between Denise and the blue box. Curiosity wins out and he takes the box. He's one of those annoying people who peels the tape gently off the paper. Jiya groans and tries grabbing it from across the table, but he's to quick and pulls it away. "You are just going to have to wait, Miss Ants in your Pants." He stares at her until she sits down again, impatiently resting her chin in her hand and strumming her fingers on the tabletop. He puts the box back on the table and continues easing the tape off. Sliding a metal case out of the paper, stoically ignoring the 'finally' coming from across the table.

"Oohhh. This looks promising." He glances at Wyatt. He would be the only one to recognize what kind of case this is. Wyatt nods. He knows. Flynn pops open the two clasps on the front of the case and peeks inside. "Oohhhh. So pretty."

Flynn opens the case all the way. Two large handguns with six clips in foam cushioning. He pulls one out and shows the empty clip to Wyatt before sliding it into the pommel. He checks that the chamber is empty. "A shadow. The Czech CZ 75 SP-01. Nineteen round magazines with 9 mm LUGER rounds. 85 Combat Style trigger. 2.6 pounds with a steel frame." He smells it. "So pretty." He points into the corner and tests the trigger a few times.

Wyatt takes the other one and inspects it. Flynn allows it. "Sweet. These are quality."

Rufus pipes up. "Oh joy. Now he has TWO guns!" Jiya elbows him. Everyone else laughs.

Flynn fakes a put-off look. "Not guns. Shadows. CZ 75 SP-01's. So pretty." Everyone laughs again.

Denise hands out the last gift to Lucy, who rips open the bright red wrapping and tosses it at Jiya. She picks up two books. One titled "The Day Reagan Was Shot." She glances at Denise, who nods back at her. The other looks surprisingly familiar. "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" by Lucy Preston.

She looks up at Denise again, confused. "I figured you'd want to read the most accurate description of Lincoln's assassination by a tall, dark-haired man with a foreign accent. And the Reagan one has a mention of two female private investigators who helped crack the case."

"No way!" Jiya reaches over for the Reagan book, skimming through it for where it mentions her and Lucy. "Cool. There we are!" She shows it to Rufus. Lucy is looking through her book with Flynn looking over her shoulder. Most of it looks like what she remembers writing, but some sections are new. The parts they changed by traveling back in time. Connor and Wyatt fill Jessica in as the others discuss the books.

Jiya suddenly looks up at Denise horrified. "We didn't get you anything!"

"There's no need. I'm not stuck in this bunker all day, every day."

"We have to get you something." Jiya whispers with Rufus, then hops up and runs to their room. Jessica nods at Wyatt and runs out of the room. Flynn casually gets up and strolls away from the kitchen. Jessica returns first with a small snow globe with TEXAS written across the bottom. "This is from us, from the great state of Texas." Denise hugs her bunker babies.

Jiya comes running in. Her package is wrapped hurriedly in notebook paper. "Here. This is from Rufus and me." She unwraps and old book from the 50's. 'The Complete History of the FBI - From 1908 to Current' "You used to work for the FBI. It's perfect for you. At least more perfect than anything else in our room." Jiya gives a lopsided grin and they both gets hugs from Denise.

Flynn comes strolling in with a large paper grocery bag. He sets is down on the table, grinning. Denise looks inside and starts swearing. "God damnit. How are you getting out of the bunker?" She pulls out several large spools of brightly colored yarn. "I have guards at every entrance. Where did you get these from?"

"They're old. I found them here." He's still grinning.

"Bullshit. There's a barcode on them. That's like the 70's or something. This bunker hasn't been used since the 50's. And these are brand new."

Lucy adds her barcode history knowledge. "1974 on a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum." Everyone looks at her, and she just shrugs. It's true.

"Do you know how dangerous it is for you to go out? Rittenhouse is looking for you. You're still on the FBI's 10 most wanted list for Christ's sake!" She huffs and rubs her forehead. "Please. Please promise me you won't go out anymore." Flynn rolls his eyes toward the ceiling, but he ends up nodding yes to her. "Thank you. And thank you for the yarn."

The dinner eventually comes to the end. Lucy and Flynn stay to clean up and put away the leftovers, while the others retire to their rooms. "Why did you get her a bag of yarn?"

"It was on sale." Lucy rolls her eyes at him, waiting for a real answer to her question. "Denise knits scarves when you go on trips. They're all over her office." He folds the last towel and puts it on the counter. Lucy grabs their gifts and they both start walking back to his room. "What happened in there? When it was your turn to say something you were thankful for, you froze. You looked panicked."

He walks in silence next to her until they get to his room. He opens the door and lets her enter first. She plops down on the bed and leans back, closing her eyes. He's sitting on the desk, watching her. Waiting. Lucy peeks up at him with one eye. "You're just going to stare at me until I talk, right?"

"Yuuuup."

She sits up. "Everyone was saying how happy they were to be alive. Or in love. I don't feel any of that."

Flynn moves to kneel in front of her. "You're not happy to be alive?"

Lucy shakes her head. "It's that I don't feel alive." A single tear slides down her cheek. "Everything is gone. My career is gone. Half the stuff I know is still from the original timeline. What kind of history professor doesn't know the current version of the correct history? It's like my sister never even existed, except to me. My dad isn't my dad. And my real father is Rittenhouse. Wyatt left me. Jiya moved on to Rufus. My mom is..." She chokes up and can't finish that sentence. How do you describe a mother who chooses to kill her daughter to please an evil cult? "I go thru the motions of living. Eating. Breathing. Traveling. But inside, I'm just numb. I'm dead inside. I just wait around in this haze, waiting for more of my life to be taken from me. Every time I think I've lost everything, something else gets ripped away."

Flynn pulls her into his arms, holding her tight. She's crying in earnest now. "I can't go on like this forever. I can't exist as nothing. I'm so scared. So scared of everything. I can't sleep. I can't breathe. It hurts so much. Flynn."

Flynn holds her for a long time, calming strokes of his hand down her back, wiping tears off her cheeks. He whispers how strong she is, how brave, and how powerful she has become.

She sniffles a few times, choking back the tears. "I'm not powerful. I'm just scared."

Flynn wipes the tears off her face again. He's smiling down at her. "Lucy. You are the most powerful person I have ever met. You stood up to Nazi's, Al Capone, Bonnie & Clyde. You survived the Alamo! You took on Rittenhouse. There's nothing you can't do. Don't you see that?"