Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova. Obviously.

Rated M for a reason.

I am a vain creature, so I'm more likely to update faster with follows and reviews.


Surprise [ser-prahyz] Verb;

*To strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as though unexpectedness.

*To come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly.

Five months had gone since the events which cut off Terra Nova from 2149. The camp had been repaired, and life within was nearly back to normal, save for the mystery of the Badlands, as well as the retreat of the mercenaries, and unknown whereabouts or condition of Lucas Taylor. It was held to vote by the leadership of the camp to seek out the Badlands once the everything was back to normal, and they felt comfortable leaving the base without their Commander and Sheriff to protect it.

Even with the base properly defended and maintained, and the base systems all working without so much as a glitch, there were a few people who could not shake a feeling of worry as to survival. Namely one Skye Alexandria Tate.

She had grown distant, the once independent extrovert girl had turned into what Josh would refer to as a 'dead star', and even though the pair had grown close, there was no breaking down the wall Skye had built.

"It's a psychological effect of pulling the trigger, Skye." Commander Taylor muttered with grief. "Even if you did it for all the right reasons, there's a chance you'll have a bad aftermath."

Skye nodded at the comment sitting before his desk, her eyes constantly flashing to the little pieces that reminded her of Lucas, the stains of whiskey, damaged furniture, but she never looked to the door to the bedroom. Shooting him may have brought on some of this PTSD, as Doctor Shannon confirmed, but of the things he did, things he made her feel, and what she did, that was what stuck with her.

"Does it ever go away?" She asked softly, her eyes meeting his, and those eyes gave her little hope.

"Sometimes, but give it time, Skye. Give it time." He whispered as he got to his feet and patted her shoulder. "You did the right thing, stop beating yourself up over it. Trust me."

"Do you think he's out there still?" Skye asked nervously, making the Commander sigh once more.

"I do. Where, I don't know, maybe he managed to reunite with those mercs, but in any case, you shouldn't have to fear him. I've issued the command to all the troops to take him out on sight. I can't risk the camp over him. Not again." Skye nodded once more as she wiped her eyes and got to her feet, leaving without a proper goodbye.

Making her way into the camp's square, she was greeted by Josh along with her house mates. They all smiled and waved her to approach. With her hesitance she made her way over.

"Hey Skye, Josh here was thinking about getting back to Snakehead, and you know, I think since we did help reinforce the camp, we could use a little R and R, ya know?" Hunter said with a grin, clearly still searching for her affections. "You in?"

Skye dished out her best 'everything is alright' smile and shook her head.

"No guys, it's cool. I think I'm just gonna call it a day." She affirmed before moving away, but not before Josh caught the back of her arm.

"Hey, Skye, just wait a second-" Josh started before she managed to break the grip and continued on. Relentless, he followed after her.

"Another lone wolf day?" Josh asked in tow, shaking his head. "You really need to let it loose Skye. I mean come on, we survived, act like it maybe?"

Without warning Skye turn on her heel and shoved Josh back, catching him off guard.

"WE survived, but not everyone survived." Skye spat, instantly seeing guilt form on the boy's face, but she continued. "And you know what, yea, you're right, I should be happy. I'm sorry, maybe I should just forget that Washington died to get you out to safety, or maybe just pretend I wasn't held hostage in my own home, or that I wasn't preyed upon by a psychopath!"

"You weren't the only you went through this you know. I lost someone I cared for too." Josh snarled back, the bluntness of it made Skye's jaw unhinge slightly. His girlfriend. Skye's eyes darted to the ground once more and guilt over came the pair of them. "Skye, I-"

"No. You're right, Josh. I should just suck it up." She whispered, fighting the tears that threatened to come out. She thought it was hard to compete with a girl who wasn't even born yet, but it was impossible to compete with a girl that was dead. A girl who died thanks to information she passed on to Commander Taylor's son. "Sorry, but I can't do this right now." She spat before moving away.

He was infuriating. She knew he meant well, and she knew that he had come around to liking her, but she just couldn't stand to look at him sometimes. He didn't what she did for him. What she was willing to do for him. He never even asked her what she had done to get him out of the brig, once out, he was pissed that she didn't get his father out as well.

She entered her home. When her mother was out of the care of Doctor Shannon completely, she moved out of the house she had with Hunter and the gang. As fun as it was to be with her friends, nothing could compare to being able to live with her mother, to not have to travel all though the night and give intel to those sixers just to see her. At least when she was home. Her mother had been placed into work details, and with the cut off from 2149 and no more new supplies running though, her mother was tasked with the recycling team, getting every last drop of use from any and every item.

Unable to bear the silence of the empty house she left. She needed to get out. Not just outside, but outside the perimeter. She partly regretted not taking up the offer on going to the cliffs, but the thought of being around Hunter or Josh now made her stomach churn.

Slipping though the gutter ditch just like old times, Skye ventured into the trees swiftly. She missed the forest. The sights and sounds, not so much for the blood sucking mosquitos or thorn bushes, but most everything else. Being able to navigate outside of the camp without use of a tracker made Skye feel apart from the rest of the colony. From her espionage days, Skye knew almost every foot of this part of the wild, what routes were safest, which areas offered food along the way, the best route to take if you were caught off guard by a slasher.

She took a glance at the sun. She had maybe five hours until dusk, more than enough time to vent and get back. Instinctively, Skye went to the falls, the water offered her the most relief, she just prayed that Josh and the rest of them would hold off on the trip out for another day.

Dropping her bag down, Skye went to the water and began to splash the water upon her face, then to the back of her neck. Her eyes scanned to the rocks round her. Lucas's equations etched upon them. Before she had met Lucas she thought nothing of the drawings and calculations other than it was linked to Taylor's long lost son. Now, she saw them as scars. Scars on herself, to the colony, and to the planet.

Her stripped herself of her brown leather jacket and basked in the sunlight with her black tank and cargo pants, taking solace in the sounds of the cascading waters and rustling of leaves from the wind. It might be a restricted area, but it was something short of paradise. She then wondered if Lucas chose this place to display his work for this reason.

"Damn it." Skye muttered, covering her face with her hands. She had to stop bringing him up in every thought. As far as the colony was concerned, Lucas Taylor was still at large, and yet he managed to haunt her as though he was a ghost.

It would be so much easier if there was proof of his survival or not, sometimes she'd hope that a patrol would bring him back. Dead or alive, it didn't matter to her, but she longed for that closure. That she could either learn to cope with the knowledge that she had shot and possibly ended Taylor's son, or that she had not taken his life, and could be absolved of any guilt.

Skye sighed running her hands though her hair before getting to her feet again, grabbing her jacket on the way up and turned to retrieve her bag, but upon turning around, she discovered that it was not where she had placed it.

Skye silently cursed herself. She had left her nuts and berries in the back, and out here there were many creatures of opportunity. She moved for the tree line in hopes of picking up a trail. Any sane person would have let bag go, but that bag had belonged to her family since they arrived here. A physical tie to her father.

Upon entering the trees once more, she immediately took note to the physical signs of something being dragged across the forrest floor, with her luck the bag attracted a juvenile nykoraptor. She was now severely regretting not taking up Boylan on a trade, an antique 21st century hand gun. Carnator dung was worth more than that thing, but now any firearm would have been worth her weight in Terra's.

The trail ended suddenly no signs of anything being shredded or dragged off in another direction upon the ground, but when surveying the area at eye level she spotted her bag hanging from a low hanging branch. Her expression became light and she even produced a laugh.

"Alright, very funny!" She called approaching the bag. "You guys really had me there!" She said shaking her head as she slung the bag over a shoulder. "Now who am I going to hit first? Josh or Hunter? Because I know Max wouldn't dream of pulling this off!" She called out again as she spun back around to meet a sight which scared her more than a pack of slashers. A pair jade green eyes.

"Hello Bucket."