A/N: Sorry for the late update! I felt so bad that I couldn't post this chapter sooner. I was super busy for the last 3 days and it's going to get even worse next week. (Yep, like I said, uni life here it comes! *sigh*) I'll try as best as I can to submit the next chapter next week or this weekend if possible.

This chapter was inspired by "Nothing Can Hold Me" by "ShellyStark". I saw the gif on her website that she used as a prompt for the story and it was so... arrgghh it was too beautiful! *sobs*

Please pretty please with the cherry on top, leave me some reviews, okay? I really appreciate it, guys! Love you all!

Disclaimer: I do not own a thing. Property of Fox. T_T

Chapter 3: Unconscious

There was a long stretch of silence between them as they made their way back to the colony. Skye sat on the back of the rover, holding Lucas' body in her arms. Her body felt numb from the cold but she didn't care. Her fingers caressed his face lightly, feeling the rough of his skin beneath her touch, knowing that he was there, alive and safe in her embrace.

They reached Terra Nova just a couple of hours before dawn. Taylor used the main gate as the entrance, creating puzzled expressions on the guard's faces as they opened the gate for him. He parked the rover on the side of the road and called some of the guards that were standing a few yards from him. Skye couldn't hear their conversation and suddenly the door on the back of the rover flew open, revealing a familiar face in front of her.

"Mark.." she called him. He gave her a dry smile. "The paramedics will be here soon. You can leave him to me for now." He said as he held his hand out to her, helping her getting off from the rover.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said it straightly. Mark turned to face her, eyebrows furrowed together. "I don't get it. Why would you want to help our enemy? What did he do to you that makes you want to search for him in the wilderness and bring him back here, to the place where he doesn't belong?"

She shrugged at his statement. "I honestly don't know." She confessed. Mark shook his head in disbelief. "You're crazy, Skye. You know that." She looked over to him and cocked her head to the side, smiling weakly at him. "I know." She sighed.

The paramedics arrived a few moments later. They took Lucas out from the rover and laid him on the stretcher. He looked even worse under the light. His face was swollen with bruises and the wounds on his chest were infected badly. Skye stood beside him, unable to look away from his weary face. Taylor came to stand on her side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "We have to get him to the infirmary as soon as possible. He'd lost quite an amount of blood and I'm afraid he wouldn't make it if he doesn't get the treatment right away." Skye nodded slowly as she let the paramedics took him away. Her heart clenched in her chest as the ambulance made its turn on the corner of the road and disappeared.

"Skye?" Taylor's voice startled her, taking her back to reality. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She nodded reluctantly and followed him to the back of the rover.

"I don't know how to say this to you but.." his voice trailed off. He shifted uncomfortably and looked up to her. "I'm glad that we found him. It was the right thing to do after all." He smiled genuinely at her, feeling relieved and sad at the same time. "Thank you, Taylor." She murmured. "If it wasn't for you, he should've been dead by now. We came at the right time." She gave him a brief hug, made him cringed in his position. "Sorry.." she said to him sheepishly.

"Well, we still have to keep an eye on him even though he's in a critical condition right now. I'll ask Reynolds to stand by him at all times. We don't know how long it will take until he's fully recovered and like it or not, he's still the colony's worst enemy. We have to keep this case under the radar. I'll have Shannon tomorrow morning to talk about this privately and in the mean time, you should probably keep your distance from him." She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off by raising his hand. "It's for your own good, Skye. You can always ask Reynolds if you want to know about his condition. But I don't suggest you to come there too often."

Skye folded her arms across her chest, gazing far away to the forest outside the gate. Taylor sighed heavily, shaking his head at her stubbornness. Sometimes he could see the resemblance between her and Lucas. Both are headstrong and very hard to pleased. And when something gets on their way, they will never give up until they get what they want.

"I'm going to the infirmary right now." He suddenly spoke, glancing slightly towards her. "You can come with me if you want." He said it as he made his way inside the rover and started off the engine. Skye huffed frustratingly as she saw Taylor glanced at her from the driver seat. "You're coming or not?" he asked. She turned around, stomping slightly as she walk and sat beside him on the passenger seat, hands still folding across her chest. Taylor stared her, trying to read her expression through her scrunched up face. "Skye, I know that you're mature enough to decide what you think is right or wrong. But I'm not going to let you choose on your own this time. I'm still your legal guardian after all and I have the right to protect you, just like my own daughter." He sighed and shook his head. "Look, if you want to see him, ask Reynolds to accompany you. There's no guarantee on that but at least I know that you're not alone."

Skye pressed her lips and looked over to him. She knew that Taylor was just trying to protect her and deep down inside she appreciated him for trying to be a good father figure to her. She couldn't bear seeing the disappointment in his eyes and she didn't want to hurt his feelings anymore. "Alright," She finally spoke, giving him a slight smile. "I guess we have a deal on that."

They arrived at the infirmary in a couple of minutes and headed straight to the emergency room. Skye could see the room was crowded with people, going back and forth bringing medical supplies and blood containers from the main inventory. Her heart sank when she finally saw him, lying unconsciously on the bed. She choked back her tears as she approached him, her hand reached out to hold his. He looked so frail she was afraid her touch might break him.

"Skye" a familiar voice from behind distracted her focus from Lucas. "Dr. Shannon" She replied, pulling her hand back from Lucas' and shove it slightly to her pocket. Elizabeth gave her a sympathetic smile. "Can I have a word with you and Commander Taylor in my office about 5 minutes from now?" Skye nodded cautiously as a wave of fear came rushing through her. She took another glance to Lucas before heading towards Taylor who was in a serious conversation with Mark on the corner of the room.

"Taylor, Dr. Shannon wants to talk to you." He turned to see her standing behind him, eyebrows furrowed together with desperation written all over her face. He sighed and gave Mark a dismissing signal, ordering him to start on his new duty. Mark gave him a slight nod and took a glance at Skye before he made his way to the front door.

They headed to Elizabeth's office on the other side of the infirmary. She greeted them warmly and invited them to come in. "Commander Taylor, Skye, thank you for your time to come here. I figured that I need to talk to both of you about Lucas." She cleared her throat, trying to find the right words to say. "I've just received the news about him an hour ago and to be honest I was quite surprised by the idea of taking him back to Terra Nova." She paused for a moment, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "His condition was critical a moment ago but now he's getting stabilized. The wounds on his chest were infected and they need a further treatment to heal properly. He had a severe concussion from the wound on the side of his head and judging from the scan result, I'm afraid he won't be able to remember anything by the time he wakes up." She looked up to Taylor and Skye, giving them a weak smile. "It might not be permanent but it will take awhile to get him fully recovered because there's an amount of blood trapped inside his skull and it can't be treated with our technology shortage at the moment. I'm really sorry. That's the best I could do for now."

Skye clamped a hand over her mouth, fighting back her tears as they threatened to fall from her eyes. Guilt and sadness swirled around her, weighing her down. She wanted to scream, punishing herself for what she'd done. The walls that she'd built around her crumbled as she broke down and cry, letting out all the feelings that had been trapped for so long she didn't even noticed it was there.

"I'm sorry, Skye. I know that you were blaming yourself for what you've done but this situation was beyond your control. You shouldn't curse yourself for doing the right thing." She reached out to hold Skye's hand. "He will be fine. I'm sure of it."

Elizabeth looked over to Taylor, who was still lost in his own thoughts. "I'll try to give you an update every day for his progress. Hopefully we won't find any other complications so he could be transferred to the treatment room as soon as possible."

"Thank you Dr. Shannon. I'll have Reynolds around the infirmary for several days to come. You can communicate to me through him if needed." He got up from his chair and walked to the door. "We'll take care of him, Commander." She replied as he gave a nod to her and left the room.

Elizabeth turned her gaze on Skye, who was still sitting on the chair with bemused expression. Her eyes filled with sadness and pain. "You can go and see him if you want." She told her, giving her a warm smile. "But you only have 10 minutes. I can't let you stay in the emergency room for too long. He's still under an intense treatment at the moment." Skye nodded silently and sat up from her chair. "Thank you, Dr. Shannon." She smiled at her weakly and made her way to the emergency room.

She entered the room slowly when she saw Mark walking towards her. "Skye.." he said, blocking her way in. "Dr. Shannon said I have 10 minutes to see him." She said it with a stern voice, feeling annoyed with his defensive gesture. She knew he must've started on his "new" duty that Taylor had assigned him earlier. "Commander Taylor said.." "That I can see him if you're around. I know." She cut him off, leaving him with puzzled expression. "Look, Mark. I really appreciate that you're trying your best to follow Taylor's order. But I'll be fine. I promise." She stared at him pleadingly, hoping he would understand. He sighed heavily and shook his head. "Fine, you have 10 minutes. I'll wait for you outside if you need anything." He slid to the side as she walked pass him, closing the door behind her.

She stood there for a moment, gathering her strength before she took a few steps towards him. She grabbed a chair and settled it down on the side of the bed. "Hey.." she whispered, her voice was barely audible. "I know you probably can't hear me talking to you right now." She smiled weakly to him, reaching out to hold his hand. "But I wish you could hear me, somehow." She squeezed his hand slightly, trying to soothe the throbbing ache in her chest. "Lucas, I'm really sorry. If only I knew it would end up like this, I…" her voice trailed off, couldn't find the right words to say. She knew it already that things will only get even worse if she shot him, but she didn't have any other choice.

When she finally pulled the trigger on him, part of her was dying inside, as if she killed her own soul. She didn't realize it until now, holding him in her hand, feeling the thud of his pulse on her finger. She could feel the warmth of his presence filled her internally, reviving her from the inside. A new hope dawned to her, giving her new strength to hold on to him. Whatever the situation might be, she will stand by his side, for good or for worse. The world seemed to fade away, but it didn't matter to her anymore. As long as he was there, she felt complete.

She leaned closer to him and rested her head slightly against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "I'm sorry.." she murmured. "I didn't know what else to do. I'm supposed to hate you, but something in my heart told me I was wrong." She closed her eyes, breathing slowly as she drifted off to sleep obliviously.

"Lucas.." she called his name, snuggling further to his chest, reality started to slipping away. "Please don't leave me.." she whispered to him as she plunged deeper into unconsciousness.

There's not much Lucas/Skye action here, but I can guarantee the next chapter is going to get more interesting because... well, can't tell you now, haha! See you guys soon!