"The Shannon girl. Bring her to me. She will be our leverage. We've been sitting around way to long." Lucas spat out orders to Pheonix soldiers. With a nod and a 'yes sir,' they were off – leaving Lucas sitting alone, consumed by his thoughts.
The Badlands. And they were just that- bad. About five months ago, they had retreated to the area after they failed to overtake Nathaniel Taylor's colony. Taylor- the man he most hated, even more so than Skye.
Skye. The young girl who loved his father like her own. They girl who had betrayed him, and he followed her into a trap. The same girl who had put two bullets into his chest. Nathaniel Taylor and Skye. The first two people he would kill when he got a hold of them.
"Miss Shannon!" she turned around, already knowing who called her name before she saw him.
"Why hello Mr. Reynolds." She beamed at him as he walked towards her. She stretched on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, but Mark turned his head so that her lips met with hers. She pushed him away, giggling.
"Cheater!" She said, playfully hitting him on his chest as he smiled guiltily.
"Listen, tell Josh and Skye to come with us to Boylen's tonight. I have a dinner planned. 7:00 today." He informed her.
"Oh really? What's the big occasion?" Maddy inquired.
"Nothing…I just wanted to spend time with you. And Josh. And Skye." He smiled, sheepishly. She raised an eyebrow, as if to question him.
"I feel as if they haven't fully recovered since…you know. Maybe you can convince your brother and Skye to come with us. It'll be good for them." He shrugged. After a few moments of staring at him in admiration, Maddy put her arms around his neck.
"You really think of everything, don't you? I'll try my best, but you know how he's been since Kara. And Skye has been so paranoid since they never discovered Lucas' body. And then there's the guilt. It must be so hard for them. I'm so lucky nothing happened to you." She looked up at his eyes lovingly.
"And I'm lucky because I have you." He smiled back at her. "But seriously, I hate seeing them sulking around as much as you do. So 7:00, don't forget!" He kissed her head and left to take over his shift.
Once Maddy told Josh that he was to join her at Boylen's, he had been trying to come up with excuses not to go.
"Maddy I really don't feel well, you guys go have fun. Seriously." Josh whined.
"No. You're coming and that's final." Maddy tried again to get him to come along with her.
"Please? Josh, you should go!" Zoe played her part in convincing him.
"Mom's working late tonight and Dad's been in Taylor's office since the morning and Reynolds is sending over some of his friends to play with Zoey. And you are coming with me. It's all settled. It's final." Maddy declared.
"But I—" Josh began to say but Maddy cut him off.
"Reynolds can take you by force, I hope you know that." Maddy threatened. Josh sighed and gave in. They walked in silence, covering the short distance to Boylen's in just a few minutes. Maddy hadn't given up on trying to get Josh to behave like he used to before Kara's death. But today, he looked pissed, being forced to go out in public and interact with society.
"You made it!" Mark Reynolds stood up from his table and walked over to greet the three. They sat together and Maddy and Mark tried their best to keep the conversation going. While Josh interjected his 'mmhm' and 'yeah' and 'definitely' every now and then, Skye sat quietly not making any attempt to speak with them. Every once in a while, she would look around frantically. Ever since she shot Lucas and his body was never found, she'd been living in fear. She was very strong, having lost her father and having her mother held hostage (not to mention the numerous threats she was given by the Sixers), but she'd seen the type of person Lucas was.
Heartless.
"Skye, what's your take on the matter?" Maddy asked.
"Well..I..umm.." just then, the lights went out.
"Bloody hell! Jeff, go check the connection box!" Boylen yelled out. A minute or two later, the lights came on again to reveal two empty chairs. Josh and Mark stared at each other in confusion.
"Where's Maddy?..and Skye?…" Mark wondered aloud.
"Sir, we have her." One of the Pheonix soldier informed his commander. Lucas flashed his soldiers a crooked smile.
"Excellent. Bring her to me." The soldier nodded and retreated to the truck. A few minutes later he came back with a young girl with her hands tied behind her back.
"Miss Shann—" he froze when he turned around and saw her face. His eyes deceived his mind. He stood staring at her for a few moments.
"Bucket." He said lightly, never looking away. Skye gulped and looked around nervously. She couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.
"Lucas..." She finally whispered after a long pause. He made his way towards her and stopped a foot away. He lifted his hand to cup her cheek and she flinched. A hint of a smirk came upon Lucas' face.
"What's wrong dear sister?" Skye began to blink rapidly, trying not to let her tears escape. This was the moment. The day she had feared since the past five months. The epitome of a nightmare coming true. She closed her eyes in preparation for what she assumed to be her demise.
Lucas turned to face the two soldiers that stood, waiting to take Skye away. "Leave." He commanded them.
"If you're going to kill me, please do it now." She finally brought her gaze up to his face. Lucas, as surprised as he was, gave her a half sarcastic laugh.
"Trust me, I'm really tempted to. You've betrayed me several times now. And once I kill you and Taylor I won't have any family left. But remember, you set yourself up for this. It didn't have to be this way, Bucket." He began stroking her cheek as he looked at her with an intense gaze.
With a sharp turn of her head, she looked the other way. Lucas dropped his hand, still looking at her.
"Take her away." He shouted. Two soldiers appeared and grabbed her arms. "You got the wrong girl. But I'll forgive you. My beautiful sister here will serve as an excellent substitute. Take her to rest. Go. Oh, and it was nice seeing you again, Bucket." He said with a wink.
Author's Note: Okay readers, this is my very first Fanfic EVER. Never written one in my life. I'm nervous about posting this, but please be critical. I'd like to know what I can work on and all that good stuff. Speaking of good stuff, Lucas Taylor is one hot evil genius psycho son of a ***** I don't know why but I find him and Skye adorable…in a creepy way. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it. I can't promise that the next update will be soon but I will try my best! (Because I definitely don't want to leave it here…even if everyone absolutely hates it, It's gonna bother me for the rest of my life that I left this unjustifiably incomplete.)