She couldn't help but hate him. The way he threatened to destroy her mother by throwing her from the canopy that the Sixers roamed. She would have thought he was just making a threat with no real backing, until she looked at his eyes. He was staring her dead in the face, his pearl jade irises were oozing with the weight of his words. He wasn't kidding. Other times, he almost tricked her into thinking that he loved her. Whether it was in a brotherly way or otherwise, she couldn't tell. Maybe if he hadn't held her mother at the brink of death, and maybe if he wasn't trying to kill the only father she had left, she really would think of him as a brother. But as she walked across the ruins of Terranova, she could only feel hatred stewing in the pit of her stomach.
His little stint at the bar really threw things out of whack. Her plan would be that much closer to working if Josh hadn't decided to be an idiot. She guessed it was in all the Shannon's blood, jumping to save everyone and fix everything. Sometimes she hated Josh as much as she hated Lucas. Why did he have to try and step in? She'd almost gotten Lucas into one of his calmer moods, the Lucas that was no longer focused on his father, just focused on getting her to quit trying to pull away from him. It was a sick little game he played, but Skye was beginning to get accustomed to it, if that was possible. She sighed, stopping at the steps of what used to be Commander Taylor's base of operations. It was the only building that looked pretty much the way it had before the Phoenix Group paid them a visit. She took a deep breath, already able to see Lucas sitting in his father's chair, his brain churning to find out how to get Mr. Shannon how to talk. That was where she would pin him, if he let her. She was banking on the fact that he was too focused on other things to see through her plot. She slowly made her way up the stairs, almost waiting for one of the guards to stop her. As she walked past without a hitch, she was disgusted with herself. She was a traitor, yet she wasn't. She spied, but she didn't really spy, as Mira so helpfully pointed out to her. She shook the disgust away, replacing it with a graceful smile as she entered the lofty space.
"Ah, if it isn't Skye, the one that made all of this possible." Lucas greeted her, a smirk playing on his lips. She shrugged, smiling, though her insides were twisting with hurt. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, pulling a long knife from his pocket. He proceeded to pull out a smooth stone, and started sharpening the knife, filling the room with the shrill sound of metal on rock. Her smile faltered slightly at the sight, and she couldn't help but think that the knife might soon find its way into her if her plan didn't work.
"Lucas, you can't kill him." She slowly started towards him, moving as if he were a wild tiger.
His eyes flickered, and she saw the somber look in his face that she'd become familiar with. His eyes could look so innocent, but when coupled with the slight frown on his lips it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. "And why not?" he asked plainly.
"Because…you just can't." She hadn't really planned this part out, and she was realizing that with every word she spoke. She made it to the side of the table in which he sat, placing her hands on the delicate glass surface.
"Hmm," He murmured with a low rumble. "You have a soft spot for the Shannon boy, don't you Bucket?" He asked softly, but when she met his eyes they were cold. She looked away.
"Its just that—" She was interrupted as Lucas carefully picked up one of her hands. She recoiled inwardly as he brought it to his lips, but told herself it was the only way Josh was going to get out alive. The kiss was soft, but the prickle of his stubble further reminded her that Lucas was no Prince Charming, he was a psychotic killer who'd lived in the wild. She slowly retracted her hand from his grip. She felt him tense at first, but then let her escape. For once.
"It's just that I don't see how it's going to help. If you kill Josh, you're going to have Jim Shannon trying to exact his revenge, and that will just get in the way."
Lucas's lips parted slightly, but then he turned away and started sharpening his knife again.
"Please Lucas. It would just complicate things." She felt her stomach flip, waiting for him to make a decision.
"I don't think you're right, Bucket, but I'll do it for you." He turned to face her once more, and she found herself locked in his gaze. Whether it was out of fear or shock, she didn't know. "Consider it a gift." He smiled slightly, one of those murderous little smiles she hated so much. As he turned away for the final time she felt a wave of relief, but sensed a falsity in his voice. She would really have to play up her gratitude. She winced inwardly at the thought of "sealing it with a kiss", that would probably make her throw up at this point. She finally gathered her last bit of willpower and hugged him from behind. She shut her eyes, trying to imagine that it was Josh, and it seemed to help, causing her to hug a little tighter. She felt the ripple of surprise run through him, and she felt his muscles tense as he waited for some sort of attack. In that moment she almost felt sorry for him, that he had to expect the worst from even the kindest gestures. And she almost felt worse about the fact that he was right to doubt her. "Thank you," She murmured into his shoulder, not able to say his name. Its Josh, you're hugging Josh.
She ended the hug quickly, feeling the bile rise in her throat as she caught the rugged scent of Lucas, not the clean colony smell that Josh had. She backed up, and hurried out of the room before Lucas could say anything. She broke into a run at the bottom of the stairs, tears prickling in her eyes as she imagined what her mother would say about what she'd just done. She darted through the remains of the marketplace and finally ducked under one of the fallen tents, unable to stifle her tears any longer. Her insides felt like they were caving in and she let her eyes burn with tears as she struggled to contain herself. Lucas would be searching for her soon enough and he would probably catch the red rim around her eyes and suspect something. She had her commands from his father, and she had to carry them out in order to save the colony from its doom.
"Control yourself." She commanded aloud, breathing deeply. She couldn't just break down like that after talking with her "brother", she needed to get better at handling this. For the colony's sake. Her breathing slowed a little, and she wiped her eyes, rubbing them clean as she heard a group of soldiers walk past.
"Its going to be quite a sight when the drills start rolling in." One of the soldier's whistled.
"Yeah, I just wonder why Taylor decided to hole up here for so long." The other soldier seemed a little uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"He's on some crazy mission to find his father. The guy's half insane, but he's smarter than anyone else here. In fact I was just…" the voices trailed off, and Skye found that she'd been holding her breath, waiting for them to discover her. Whatever it was, it had cleared up most of the signs of her collapse. If Lucas said anything about it, she'd make up some excuse about her mother. Lucas had reluctantly allowed her to stay in the care of Dr. Shannon after the explosion, and she was one of the few patients who was allowed full access to any medication she needed. If Lucas was trying to make up for something, she wasn't going to allow it. He tried to kill off her mother, there was no forgiveness in that. He'd even poisoned her nickname and turned it into some sort of pet name for her. She shivered, and crawled out from the tent. She would end Lucas Taylor, even if she had to do it herself.