A/N: Don't ask me what happened.. the chapters just flowed out my brain in the space of two days... Enjoy! and many thanks for the reviews and favourite stories and story alerts! they make me happy :-)... Also any technical stuff about guns in this update are made up and any mistakes are my own :-)

"Hey Katie get your butt off that roof now! It's 4pm and Commander Taylor wants a word" Baz shouted. Kate wiped the sweat from her forehead before she packed up the tools she had been using and climbed down the ladder. Once her feet touched the ground she moved to the Baz and Taylor.

"I was nearly finished" Kate told Baz as she handed over her tool belt as she did after every shift.

"I told you it was nothing that can't wait another day. I'll see you the day after tomorrow at 6am. Don't be early" Baz told her.

"You're no fun" Kate said as she knew she had worked hard all day even skipping lunch. She didn't mean to do it purpose she just wasn't motivated to eat as she was to finishing the roofing on the house. Baz had already told her he was giving her the day off tomorrow because she looked like 'hell with a hangover'.

"And you make me look lazy" Baz told her.

"You've been full of compliments today. Are feeling ok?" Kate bantered with a smile. Baz rolled his eyes at the young woman and shook his head as he turned to Taylor.

"She is your problem now Commander" Baz said as he clapped Kate on the shoulder and waving goodbye. Kate looked to Commander Taylor and looked him over. He had a few cuts and scrapes not to mention some nasty bruises.

"How was your trip?" Kate asked.

"I found what I was looking for. What about you?"

"Well, one: your chair is comfortable. Two: Maddy Shannon makes really good apple pie."

"Anything else?" Taylor asked as he already knew the answer and that Kate was being obtuse to amuse herself.

"Yeah, but it's not useful" Kate started, she didn't wait for him to ask instead launched into her theories about what she read and requested more time to look more closely at the information. "…I think it will help when the list has been narrowed down. Sheriff Shannon said he'd call me in when he needs me again but no promises these blind spots aren't tested they are just options I'd try out. But we'd tip our hands if I started actually testing the perimeter for weaknesses." Kate said.

"Agreed, I already heard the rumours of the day" Taylor said.

"Oh do share" Kate said unenthusiastically.

"Apparently you and Shannon might be conspiring to take over the Colony and make it your own" Taylor said.

"Well the Chair is really comfortable" Kate said in a contemplative tone. She looked up at the sky and watched a Pterosaur fly over the colony. "Have you heard from Alicia?"

"Wash checked in about an hour ago. She will be returning tomorrow afternoon before nightfall. Why don't I walk you home, you look like you could use a shower and some sleep" Taylor said as he could see Kate was dead on her feet.

"Shower definitely but the rest can wait until after I eat. I'm starving" Kate said as she was dragging her feet from exhaustion, she had to admit she was starting to burn the candle at both ends.

"How about you have a shower and we had to Boylan's for an early dinner"

"I thought you never go to Boylan's" Kate said looking surprised.

"I don't make a habit of it" Taylor said casually.

"Well well I was wondering when you'd make your first dalliance into my bar and you managed to drag the Commander in here." Boylan said as Kate and Taylor reached the bottom stair Boylan came around the bar to greet them.

"No dragging required I asked him if he would like to join me for dinner" Kate said as she shook Boylan's hand. She noted that the bar had a light crowd of civilians and a few soldiers who all looked surprised to see them in Boylan's bar.

"Well then find yourselves a table and I'll bring over a sample of my new brew" Boylan said with a wink. Kate gestured for Taylor to choose, and followed him as he found a table that was in full view of the room.

Taylor held out the chair for her which she took and thanked him as he seated her before sitting himself down on the opposite side of the table. Boylan came over to the table with a glass of cloudy brown liquid.

"What's this?"

"My first attempt at beer, now don't worry I only used the scraps of the bakery to make this. It's an experiment" Boylan told Taylor, Kate picked up the glass and took a sniff it smelt like stale bread and something rotten. Kate steeled herself and took a tentative sip and paled as she turned away and spat the liquid back into the glass.

"Sorry but that is gut rot" Kate said handing the glass back to Boylan. He barked a laugh as she shuddered in revulsion at what she tasted.

"Well I did tweak the recipe" Boylan said the man was not put out by the failure.

"I think you need to let it brew for more time than three weeks before it's ready for consumption" Kate told him.

"Well I'll let the other bottles sit a while longer"

"I'll try again in another 3 weeks" Kate told him,

"You're on, now would you like another drink?"

"Yes, I'll have a cider" Kate said.

"Make it two" Taylor said.

"Done, I'll let you look over the menus and be right back" Boylan said leaving them to look at the menu. Kate looked around the bar it was low key and casual atmosphere. In a large and open space that was below ground level with high ceilings she really didn't want to know how this place faired in the heavy rain season with lack of windows. Otherwise she actually liked the place it was different from other bars she had ventured to before.

She couldn't hide the smile at people looking and whispering about what Kate would bet was her and Taylor's appearance. Boylan came back to the table with their drinks and then took their order before leaving them in peace.

"So why don't you come here more often?" Kate asked with amused smile as she took a sip of her cider. She sat back in her chair mimicking Taylor who was sitting in the same fashion.

"If I came here all the time my soldiers wouldn't be able to relax" Taylor said.

"Makes sense but not fair to you if you want a drink and to socialise" Kate said.

"I go OTG it's enough" Taylor said.

"Going walkabout works for you?" Kate asked in a teasing fashion.

"Fishing actually" Taylor corrected. Kate was surprised as she hadn't given it a lot of thought she figured he went OTG to hunt down Dinosaur heads to mount on the walls or something like that. Not fishing it sounded so tame in comparison.

"You fish?" Kate asked sceptically.

"Everyone needs a hobby" Taylor told her.

"Of course I'm just surprised as Fishing seems so tame" She said as she was picturing a dingy boat in a lake waiting hours for something to bite.

"Not the way I fish" Taylor told her. Kate chuckled at his arrogance.

"I don't doubt that" Kate said.

"Have you found a hobby?"

"Construction?" Kate offered

"That's your job not a hobby" Taylor told her.

"Yoga and running" Kate said picking yet another thing she did out of habit.

"Fitness is not a hobby but a necessity for maintaining a healthy lifestyle"

"Seriously are you trying to veto everything I do?" Kate asked in good humour.

"No"

"Well, I used to drink and gamble as a hobby but the beer here is terrible and gambling is illegal. I can't go OTG and it's not like I have the time with all the work that needs to be done before the 11th pilgrimage" Kate told him with a shrug.

"Only another week and you will no longer be the new kid on the block" Taylor told her.

"Yay!" Kate cheered, she was about to make a comment but the food had arrived and her attention was completely focussed on refuelling her stomach. The rest of dinner was enjoyable as they discussed many topics and order another round of ciders.

"I'm talking about a whole outfit made from Dinosaur skin from head to toe" Kate said gesturing to her body shaping out the design a bright smile on her face as they both laughed at how ridiculous it would look like.

"I don't have nor want one" Taylor told her.

"You could be like Crocodile Dundee but you'd be called Carnotaurous Taylor or whatever dinosaur you skin" Kate said before she laugh at the thought.

"I prefer Commander Taylor" Taylor told her as he chuckled.

"I reckon I'd at least have to get myself some Dino skin boots" Kate said.

"I'll keep that in mind next time I'm OTG" Taylor told her sarcastically.

"Good, because I really need another pair of boots" Kate told him as she stuck her foot out showing her well worn boots. They looked like they had seen better days as they were heavily scuffed and the sole of the boot were worn down to being nearly flat.

"If you wanted a spare pair of boots you could have asked. I have heaps of them in storage with clothing and other equipment"

"You tell me this now?" Kate asked.

"You been thinking you'd have one pair of boots for the rest of your life?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah and the thought frightens me as these boots are about 6 years old and the way I run every day… I figured I'd be barefoot in months unless my shoes met a horrible fate" Kate said, it was his turn to laugh. She pursed her lips at him not impressed.

"It's not funny" Kate said looking put out. She wasn't really but it was fun messing with Commander Taylor. He sobered quickly but the smile never left his face.

"You're right but you know the Military either undersupplies or over supplies but in our case it's oversupply. You need clothing, boots anything we got it. You just need to fill out a request form" He told her.

Kate leaned forward in her seat and picked up her glass of cider and took a long drink draining a ¼ of the glass before placing it on the table.

"I'll do that, now would it be horrible of me if we called it a night?" Kate asked, she was exhausted and with a full stomach and two and half ciders under her belt she was ready to sleep. She chastised herself for getting old.

"Not at all" Taylor said as he looked at his watch noting it was nearly 8pm. He was amazed she was still awake as he heard she had been up since 4am and hadn't gotten to home before 10pm the previous night. "I'll pay for the meal"

"We go halves" Kate told him as she pulled out her money but Taylor waved a hand at her to stop.

"Put your money away. A gentleman never a let's a lady pay for her meal especially when he is the one who asks her to dine with him" Taylor told her.

"I know better than to argue with you. So I will just graciously say Thank you and wait for you to return" Kate said with a smile as she stayed seated watching him go to the bar to pay. She looked around the room business had picked up since she and Taylor had come in. She saw the looks that people were throwing her but didn't take it in as she knew she only had to look at a man funny to have her name linked with his in some sordid rumour.

She was glad her life was as boring as toast and not like the rumours that made her sound like she was the main character of a bad soap opera. She stood up as Taylor pointed to the stairs. She drained the last of her cider and then made her way to the stairs.

"I've been thinking" Taylor said breaking the silence that wasn't entirely true Kate had been humming an unrecognizable but beautiful melodic tune while she walked a little haphazardly towards her place. Taylor had kept a small smile on his face watching her walk off in her own world looking entirely relaxed and at peace.

"Of this I have no doubt" Kate said in a teasing tone she saw his serious expression and sobered. "Sorry, what has been on your mind?" Kate asked.

"Day after tomorrow there will be sparring sessions with the soldiers who are off duty. I'd like for you to join the group, remember how I told you there was a fight coming?" Taylor asked.

"Yes" Kate said her expression sobered as she gave him her full attention.

"It's going to be sooner than I thought. I want you to know you that I'm not expecting you pick up arms. You are a civilian" Taylor said, he watched the woman nod as she took in his words.

"A civilian who can kill a man with her ID card, a really good shot with her semi automatic custom made Hideki sniper rifle. I also won gold at the interdepartmental shooting competition 3 years in a row. Which let me tell you is quite impressive" Kate said in a mock chuffed tone.

"And so humble" Taylor drawled, as he couldn't help but smile.

"I know but let's be serious for a moment" Kate said as she let her smile fall away "I want to fight for Terra Nova. I want to protect this place and the people here. I'm offering my skills and expertise use me." Kate told him.

"I'll consider it but are you sure? You have spent a lot of time and effort giving up your old ways" Taylor said.

"I am and you should know that I'll need at least a day to prep and clean my weapons." Kate said.

"I'm not agreeing yet, but if I do I'd prefer you use our weapons. They don't run out of bullets." Taylor told her.

"May be true but I can do a lot of damage before I run out of ammunition" Kate said with a sly smile.

"I'm sure you could. Sparring starts in the afternoon around 3pm"

"I'll be late since I don't get off until 3… So about getting new boots?" Kate said with an amused expression gracing her features as she changed the topic.

"What's your shoe size 9?" Taylor guessed as he looked at her boots.

"9 ½ but if you don't have that 10 will fit, and hey some more socks would be good and a new jacket would be great. Turtle's new trainee sliced through my last jacket no amount of thread and needle work can save it. I don't care what colour" Kate said.

"Good I'll be putting you in desert camouflage so you won't be mixed up with my soldiers" Taylor told her.

"Yeah I'd hate to be mistaken for someone with authority" Kate said tongue in cheek.

The next day, Kate slept in until 5am and got up going through her morning rituals of yoga and running before showering and heading to the market. She bought food to fill up the kitchen and for pie making. She even managed to buy herself a white cotton caftan top with ¾ sleeves and a forest green long sleeved top with a scoop neckline and grey cargo pants before she moved onto trying to find Cloves her grandfather's secret to stewed apples. She was told that it was restricted to the science and medical department. She thanked the colonist who informed her who she could talk to about getting the dried herb.

She dropped off her supplies and then went in search for Elisabeth who directed her to Malcolm. Let's say that conversation had been interesting. She had gotten what she needed but she left flustered and completely confused by the encounter. She returned back to her and Alicia's house, she made herself lunch and attempted to have a nap which only ended with her staring at the ceiling for a few hours contemplating her life and how it had changed. When the clock hit ten minutes to 3 she picked up her supplies and headed to the Shannons.

"Kate how did you get the cloves?" Maddy asked as they were nearly finished peeling the apples. Kate listened to Maddy talk about school and slowly drift into talking about Mark.

"I asked Dr Wallace very nicely and he gave it to me"

"You asked him?"

"Yes why?"

"It's just that Cloves are extremely rare and hard to find only the northern expedition has been able to find them. But the Botanists have been trying to grow it here in the colony without any success" Maddy said.

"Aren't you just a font of knowledge" Kate said impressed by Maddy's knowledge.

"And no one gets anything for free around here" Maddy told her, Kate stopped her knife mid peel on the apple in her hands.

~Flashback~

"No" Malcolm said from his seat he was studying an arachnid the size of a bread plate. Kate had walked in and nearly screamed at the size of thing. Malcolm had laughed when he saw her usual calm façade startled by a spider. She was tempted to kill the arachnid just to spite him. But she instead kept far from the lab table as she was not a fan of spiders. She instead focussed on Malcolm tried vainly to pretend the spider wasn't there focussing on getting the cloves for the pie.

"No? I only need three tiny cloves. You can't spare that many?" Kate questioned staring directly at Malcolm, she could tell it was unnerving him as the back of his neck had gone red from the focussed attention. Maybe he does like me Kate thought she quickly lost the thought when the spider twitched. She made an involuntary whining noise in the back of her throat as she was really pushing her control to the limit in not screaming or trying to kill the spider. She really hated spiders.

"N-O not going to happen, we only have a small amount and we won't be getting more for at least another 6 months and the cloves we do have are reserved for their medicinal purposes and research" Malcolm told her as he looked at the spider making notes on his plex.

"Well what I need it for are both medicinal and for research purposes" Kate stated from the other side of the lab table. Malcolm looked up interested in how she was going to sway him into giving her cloves.

"What is it for?" He asked giving her his full attention.

"Maddy and I are researching the best recipe for pie, which is medicinal as it's good for mental and physical health" Kate said lamely.

"Mental and physical health?" Malcolm repeated.

"My mental health and physical need for apple pie" Kate said giving up entirely.

"Apple pie is not going to cure cancer" Malcolm told her.

"Neither will cloves but damn it will taste good. I'll give you the cloves back I'm not planning on eating them just to stew the apples" Kate told him with a smile.

"By then they are contaminated by the apples and heat thus useless to me" Malcolm said folding his arms.

"True but you'll get a slice of the best pie of your life."

"Not interested" Malcolm said. Kate tilted her head to one side and sighed.

"There is gotta be something you want that I can give you. So anything you want name it and it's yours" Kate said moving around the table to stand by his side. She leaned her hip against the table and folded her arms waiting for him to answer.

"Anything?" Malcolm asked.

"Yes within reason" Kate said carefully eyeing him.

"Have dinner with me" Malcolm said propositioning her. Kate pulled back slightly at the offer as she had not expected him to say that.

"Three cloves do not equal dinner" Kate told him.

"A kiss" Malcolm said.

"What?"Kate asked incredulously as her cheeks heated up.

"You heard me and it's not you have anything else I'm interested in or that you'd be willing to trade" Malcolm said with a smirk.

"Fine" Kate agreed, Malcolm left the room and disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing with a small jar. Inside was three cloves, he placed it in her hand and then looked at her. He moved a hand and brushed a stray strand of hair behind Kate's ear. His eyes roved over her face and Kate felt her face warm up and her breath hitch as she expected him to claim the kiss but instead he moved back and took his seat retuning back to looking in the microscope. Kate was befuddled by his change of tactics she truly was out of her depth.

"Aren't you going to claim your kiss?" Kate asked.

"Of course, just not today" He told her, he actually sounded completely disinterested in kissing her.

"Ok, I'll save you a piece of pie. Thanks for the cloves" Kate said leaving the room completely turned around by what had happened. When she left she didn't see Malcolm look up and watch her leave nor did she see the smile play on his lips.

~End of flashback~

Kate's cheeks burned as she couldn't believe she had agreed to the kiss and then he didn't even do it. But now it was hanging over her head, and it was nagging her as she hated having debts. She was still annoyed she hadn't paid off the mortgage to her apartment which was absurd considering she would never see it again.

"So what did you have to give him?" Maddy asked.

"Nothing" Kate said as she continued to peel her apple she was not telling a 16 yr old girl about it.

"Nothing"

"He gave them to me and took nothing in return" Kate said adding the 'yet' part in her head. She technically wasn't lying just withholding some facts. "Ok I did promise to not kill the spider he was studying but other than that nothing"

"He totally likes you" Maddy said.

"I'm not getting into this conversation."Kate said.

"Ok, so how are we making this again?" Maddy asked, Kate took a deep breath and ran through the ingredients her grandfather had told her and the guesstimates of measurement. At least the filling part was easy to recall while the rest was a little hazy as she hadn't made an Apple pie in two years.

Kate had bought the apples and the cloves for the party while Maddy had the rest of the ingredients at the ready. Kate knew it wouldn't taste the same as they didn't have butter or chicken eggs but they would make do with Terra Nova's equivalents.

After they finished peeling the apples and cutting them up before tossing the pieces of fruit into the pot and Kate tossed the cloves in with some water and Maddy took over the stewing part so Kate wasn't near the stove. Maddy preheated the oven just as Josh dropped off Zoe who had been at a friend's place before he went off to work.

Kate and Zoe started in making the pastry as it was the messy and fun part as they got to put their hands in the bowl.

After it was made, Kate rolled out two thirds of the dough and placed in the base of the pie before letting Zoe have a go of rolling out the last third of dough to make the pie top.

"Ok so do we keep in the cloves?" Maddy asked as the apples were stewed and ready.

"No we take them out. So you want me to cut out dinosaur shapes or stars?" Kate asked Zoe as Maddy followed her instructions.

"Dinosaurs!" Zoe said she was sitting on the countertop avidly watching Kate cut out several different dinosaur patterns as Maddy dished the filling into the pie dish.

"This is going to be the coolest pie ever" Zoe said as she pulled up a pterodactyl shaped piece of dough and handed it to Maddy who laid it on the pie. Kate was tempted to say it would like Dinosaur graveyard when they were done. They made the top of the pie with layered Dinosaurs, Maddy smiled as she lifted it up and carefully placed it into the oven and set the timer.

"And now we clean up" Maddy said looking at the mess in the kitchen. Luckily it didn't take long and soon they were seated at the table drinking tea while Zoe was drawing on a piece of plastic.

"Oh that smells so good" Maddy said as the aroma of the pie wafted deliciously in the room.

"Uhuh I think it's the combo of powdered custard and cinnamon in the crust that give it that aroma" Kate said smiling as she took a sip of tea the door opened and Elisabeth came in.

"Oh something smells delicious" Elisabeth said as she took a seat at the table.

"It's the Dinosaur pie" Zoe said.

"Dinosaur pie?" Elisabeth questioned.

"We used an unconventional topping instead of lattice or plain top we have dinosaurs. You'll see" Maddy said.

"I can't wait." Elisabeth said as she moved to the kitchen and brought over her own cup and poured herself a cup of tea.

"So how was work?" Kate asked.

"It was alright, though Malcolm was acting very unusual after you talked to him today Kate" Elisabeth said.

"Unusual?" Maddy asked not so innocently while looking at Kate who was doing her best to act disinterested.

"Yes, whatever you two talked about left him in a good mood. Mind sharing?" Elisabeth asked as a teasing smile spread across her lips.

"We were talking about Cloves" Kate said casually.

"He gave her three cloves for nothing in return" Maddy told Elisabeth.

"Will you stop making a big deal out of it?" Kate asked feeling her cheeks warm up.

"You're right it's nothing and it's between Malcolm and Kate. So I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later" Elisabeth said with a grin. Kate gave a sigh and put her head on the table.

"Sometimes I miss city life where rumours were about celebrities and their lives in different countries than about you and your own life. Is nothing sacred?" Kate groaned before lifting her head up.

"No, by the way have you thought about buying new clothes?" Elisabeth asked as she wriggled a finger in a hole on the back of tank she was wearing. She hadn't been aware of it until Elisabeth's cold finger touched her.

"Yes and seriously could you at least warm your hands before making the hole bigger?" Kate asked as she playfully slapped the woman's hand away and Elisabeth found more holes and tears in Kate's clothing.

"Well when will we see these new clothes?"

"Do you want me to go and get changed?" Kate asked gesturing her thumb to the door.

"Yes" Elisabeth said with a smile.

"Fine, I'll be back" Kate said getting up from her chair, she left the Shannon's house and headed back to hers. She changed into her black cargo pants and the grey caftan top. When she returned to the Shannon's to show proof of her new clothes to find Alicia and Jim were at the table having coffee. While Maddy and Zoe had disappeared somewhere else so the grownups could talk shop.

"Well that's a change" Jim said.

"Is that a compliment?" Kate asked.

"Needs work" Alicia told him.

"Speaking of what needs work. I've been giving Wash the update about what's been going on around here" Jim said.

"I was glad to hear my house is still standing" Alicia joked.

"Ha ha of course it is" Kate said dryly as she poked out her tongue at the woman.

"Anyway, I was telling Wash that once I narrow the list down. You two can take a walk of the perimeter" Jim said.

"I still want to walk the east perimeter and talk about those weaknesses you found" Alicia said to Kate.

"I assumed them to be weaknesses and blind spots. It doesn't mean that they are" Kate said defensively as she didn't want to be that person that said everything was badly planned when it wasn't.

"I'm not offended we have 90 soldiers that have to cover a lot of ground. We knew we were stretching thin but like you told Taylor we have the fence to keep out the Carnos and larger dinosaurs. It wasn't expected that we would have human enemies" Alicia said before taking a sip of her coffee.

"The problem is that we can't fix the defences without tipping our hand. Until the sixer spy is captured any changes we make they will know and will be able to circumnavigate" Jim said.

"We could just plant cameras and check the feeds without showing obvious changes in security protocol and procedures" Kate said.

"We can" Alicia said.