Cogs Of Fate

Reunion

The days crept on inside the bunker. Rufus watched Lucy and Wyatt's interactions carefully. The more he watched them, the more he realized that Flynn was right: Lucy hadn't fully forgiven Wyatt. Behind her smiles and small kisses exchanged between them, she held back.

Wyatt seemed oblivious to her hurt still. He had apologized, she had kissed him back, and in his world, he truly believed they had recovered from this incident. He thought he had won her back. He was the only one to see it that way.

As the team stood around with the fresh morning coffee, the bunker alarms sounded. Jiya set her mug down to rush to the computer. She typed madly at the keyboard before shouting slightly over her shoulder to the others, "October 10th, 1842, Baltimore."

Lucy's brows furrowed. "The last time we went to Baltimore...It was for Edgar Allan Poe..."

"You think Rittenhouse is trying again with this guy?" Wyatt asked, standing close to Lucy. His voice was softer than it had been in months.

She shrugged. "I don't know...Maybe? But why? I mean, Bloodstone took his wife in 1838-"

"There's nothing else of significance there?" Rufus asked.

"You'll have to figure it out when you get there," Agent Christopher announced. "Good luck."

The usual crew climbed back into the Lifeboat and headed back to a time they knew all too well to see a man they had met once upon a time.

1842

The team found themselves back to the familiar smelly streets of Baltimore. The poor light from the heavy cloud cover and wet air brought memories rushing back to the team. Lucy stopped next to the busy street, glancing past the horse-drawn carriages to the people bustling about. She remembered spotting Edgar Allan Poe in the streets the first time they traveled here and she hoped it would be that easy again.

As Lucy realized that he wasn't within the crowds, Wyatt asked, "Does anyone remember how to get to his house?" Lucy's eyes darted over to meet his. She blinked at him. He sighed. "Of course, you do."

She cleared her throat, brushing the wrinkles from her black dress as she led them through the busy streets towards Poe's house. As she walked, her nerves began to grow. She wasn't sure why but the thought occurred to her that he might ask about his wife and that terrified her. She knew that she was a terrible liar when placed on the spot and if she had to tell him that his wife was alive when she wasn't, he might not want to help them.

Rufus had thought the same thing. He muttered, "If we can get through this mission without having to tell him about his wife-"

"Just tell him the truth," Wyatt suggested. Rufus and Lucy balked at him. He added, "She's still alive...just not in 1947."

As they rounded the corner to the small house Poe lived in, Lucy gasped out in shock. The house had become incredibly rundown - more so than it had been before. The once blue shutters to the house were barely hanging onto the windows. The wooden steps leading up to the house were warped and cracked. The white house paint peeled up and grayed. The once beautiful and lively plants were all dead.

"Are you sure he still lives here?" Rufus asked.

Before Lucy could answer, the front door flew open and Poe stood there in the doorframe staring at them. "You've returned!" He hopped down his rickety steps and approached them. "What news have you brought me?"

"Regarding?" Flynn asked an eyebrow raised.

Poe blinked up at him. "If you don't have news for me, then why have you returned to me?"