Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova, this is purely a non-profit fan-made story.

Chapter 10

AS it slid of her shoulders and onto her lap, Hera at once recognized the jacket. It belonged to Nathaniel. He'd been here. He must've found her asleep against the rover. He'd found her and not woken her. Instead he'd left her again. Hera folded the jacket slowly, thoughts blank because of the empty feeling settling in her chest as she realized its indication. He hadn't forgiven her yet.. She caringly stroked the weathered leather with her thumb, having been worn by him it was strangely soothing even though he wasn't here. Bringing it to her face and pressing it to her cheek in comfort, her heart pace increased rapidly; it carried his scent. And with it came rushing back a string of intense memories. Not wanting to start the day crying, Hera abruptly got to her feet and walked over to holoscreen flashing data at her. Almost simultaneously, the garage door behind the rover was slid up with its usual rattling sound, causing sunlight to stream into the spacious hangar.

"Commander Taylor told me I'd find you here.." Jim Shannon leisurely strolled inside, his hand and eyes sadly running along the sagged and scratched roof of the rover as he approached her.

"He wants us both to come to the infirmary." He went on to explain, his expression earnest. Hastily holding the jacket behind her back when he redirected his gaze to her, Hera questioningly furrowed her brows. "The autopsy?" She guessed, feeling instantly anxious but also nervous at the prospect of soon seeing Nathaniel though she wasn't exactly sure why.

Jim nodded, "Elisabeth just finished it, took her all night.." There was a definite note of concern at his wife's lack of sleep in his voice, but at the same time pride at her being of such importance to the colony shimmered through in his eyes.

"Found anything?" He asked her as she remained silent, flicking an almost pitying look over his shoulder at the rover.

Hera immediately shook her head. "Not really.." She admitted, uncomfortably shifting her weight from one foot to the other, praying inwardly his detective instinct wouldn't notice her nerves increasing now she felt she was clumsily and maybe even unsuccessfully trying to hide Nathaniel's jacket. Perhaps the fact that she was about to face him also added to her failing courage. In addition, she couldn't quite fathom why he'd requested her to be there at all..

For a moment they just stood there, each buried in different thoughts, then Jim cleared his throat, "Well.. If you're ready..?"

"Yes.." She instantly answered him, knowing she'd sounded as if she was anything but. She took a step towards him but then held back the moment he'd turned around. On the pretext of having to switch off the holoscreen, she quickly placed the jacket on the chair behind the tool littered work table so it would be out of sight as she afterwards made to follow him.

They'd entered the infirmary not much later, giving her little to no time to prepare herself when they joined Elisabeth and Nathaniel in one of the secluded research booths. Not having had her mind made up as to how she was going to feel in his presence she almost bumped into him as he turned to see who'd come in. She hastily stumbled an apology, casting her eyes down then cursing inwardly she'd done so as it prevented her from seeing his reaction in turn. He muttered something she didn't catch, it had sounded like almost nothing more than an inaudible growl, then he moved away to face Elisabeth.

The doctor was standing at the head of a biobed over which a dark gray frame covered the majority of Sergeant Baker's still form. Hera cautiously lifted her eyes, at first drawn to the pallid face cleaned of blood, the sight of which made her involuntarily shiver, then her gaze instinctively shifted to Nathaniel. He was standing with his back towards her which immediately made her feel horribly cut off from him.

She remained near the door, hesitant to get closer to him and the others now he'd barely seemed to have acknowledged her presence. Hera bit her lower lip in an attempt to focus on the tinge of sharp physical pain it caused instead of the stab she felt going through her heart at this. Thankfully oblivious to the tension between them which Hera felt she could cut even with a blunt knife, Jim stepped up to his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder in support. She briefly squeezed her eyes in grateful affection then, when Nathaniel motioned for her to give them her report, she started running through the autopsy she'd performed with meticulous care.

Hera stood back, listening to the doctor's analysis, trying not to be distracted by her restless inclination to pull Nathaniel by the arm with her, sit down somewhere quiet and talk until they'd solved this. Whatever this was. But she knew she had to be patient, after all, now was not the time to give in to her urge to close the sudden gap between them. It was vital they investigated Baker's death, they owed him as much. They owed his family..

Like the others Hera passively took in her stream of words as the experienced doctor skimmed through her overly detailed report in a businesslike voice as if she'd learned long ago to shut down emotions when having to carry out these particular arduous and sad tasks. When she arrived at her conclusions concerning the cause of death, though, Hera automatically assumed she must've misheard.

"Hold on.. Are you saying what I think you're saying..?" Jim raised his hand to stop his wife, apparently also not sure if he'd registered correctly what she'd just said.

Elisabeth let out a brief sigh as if in melancholy defeat and nodded, telling them with a sad look in her eyes, "Sergeant Baker died of asphyxiation. It was hard to spot because of the many injuries he sustained as a result of the crash but, judging by the bruises on his neck and the purplish color of his lips, I can only conclude the majority of his wounds are all post mortem. Scans show internal evidence in the lungs and windpipe to back this theory up as well. I'm afraid all of what I found is consistent with death by suffocation."

"How's that possible…?" Hera stammered, momentarily forgetting her own awkwardness and taking a few steps closer though she froze again the moment Nathaniel next to her stirred uneasily at her approach.

"It doesn't make any sense.. How can a dead man drive off a cliff?" Jim blurted out, obviously sharing in her confusion and looking as if this was one riddle too far for him. Nathaniel, on the other hand, didn't look that shocked. In fact, his sorrowful expression showed no surprise whatsoever, it was more like a suspicion in his mind had been confirmed with this sudden mystery. He cocked his head to the side as if to rid it of some stubbornly remaining doubts or lingering hope even. Hera watched his face grow paler as he finally divulged his inner conviction, "Unfortunately, it makes a lot of sense.." He scowled at the plexpad in his hand then, even though she was closest, handed it over to Jim without so much as a look at her. Trying to ignore a childish jealousy now Nathaniel solely focused on his sheriff, she swallowed hard; her hands balled into fists in frustration as she listened in to what was said between the two.

"I got this from Baker's locker. Some kind of virus seems to have destroyed most of the data on it, but there was a folder left that I managed to access." Face grim, Nathaniel reached over and tapped the screen, "It contains a series of threats. All of them advising," He emphasized the word with a heartfelt bitterness, "Sergeant Baker to give in to their demands or face the consequences."

"What were their demands?" Jim asked, scanning through the files but looking at Nathaniel for the answer.

"It seems he got hold of some information that they wanted back." He already shook his head in growing dismay before the detective could formulate his next question. "I've no idea where that information is nor what it was about.. The dog tags we found on Baker were wiped clean, whatever he knew must've been on them."

"And you're sure all of it was erased?" Jim inquired in turn, though not sounding very hopeful at seeing the despondency etched on Nathaniel's face.

"Doctor Wallace assured me the data was irretrievable.." He told him, his jaw set. A heavy silence followed his words in which Elisabeth carefully looked over Jim's shoulder, both their eyes growing larger as they read the increasingly more horrible messages.

"They threatened to hurt his family, his wife.. And child.. Who would do this…?" The doctor mumbled in a horrified voice, clearly upset. Jim instinctively responded to his wife's distress, wrapping his arm protectively around her waist and handing back the plexpad to Nathaniel after a last appalled look at it. Hera felt suddenly out of place with the couple looking towards each other for support after the dreadful realization that someone had literally pushed Sergeant Baker over the edge because of something the man had known, stooping to even threatening his wife and unborn child in the process. It was not something that was supposed to happen here in Terra Nova. But perhaps the intense longing to feel her commanding officer's arms tightly around her in a similar loving support wasn't supposed to be there either..

"Anything on the rover?" Nathaniel eventually broke the silence in a somewhat hesitant whisper. It took her a couple of seconds to realize he'd addressed her, though, when she turned to face him his eyes were still glued pensively to the plex in his hands.

"N-no.. Sir. Not yet.. But-" He nodded curtly and cut her off before she could finish, turning again to Jim instead, "Go with Sergeant Hallows to the garage. I want that rover checked for fingerprints, DNA traces, you name it. I know you're still busy with investigating those break-ins, but I need your help on this as well."

"I doubt with the amount of damage sustained I'll be able to find anything, but I'll try." His sheriff promised solemnly, straightening his back to show his willingness to get to work on it asap. Nathaniel nodded approvingly in his direction and there was something exceedingly grateful in the look he threw him before making to go. Only just refraining from reaching out to him now he passed her so close, Hera called after him when he'd barely disappeared through the doorway, her voice timid but clear. Next moment, though, he'd swept out of the room and was gone.

"Commander..!" She raised her voice this time but, seeing he didn't seem inclined to stop, she hastily followed him outside, falling into step next to him as he weaved his way through the nurses and patients crossing the hallway to go from one ward to the next. Giving no inclination he'd heard her, Hera continued rather discouraged but determined nonetheless. "Um.. Sir.. I think, maybe, there's something else we could try.."

"Go on." He told her tersely, seemingly straining not to make eye contact with her directly.

Trying to keep her voice steady despite the cold treatment she'd received from him the moment she'd entered that booth, Hera quickly started to explain her idea to him, knowing he was listening despite his eyes lingering on anything but hers. "So far, we found nothing that indicates the rover was tampered with, it might even prove to be impossible to find any signs of sabotage. But, maybe, we can still discover the identity of who initiated the hydro cells if we manage to retrieve the personal ignition code used. At least we can verify if it was Sergeant Baker that started the rover that final time before.. When.." Her voice trailed off now the greater part of her was unwilling to repeat out loud the man's horrendous end. Next to her Nathaniel had pushed open the glass doors and they stepped outside. He almost instantly stood still when they'd just started along the pebble covered road leading to the square. Skidding to a halt herself Hera chanced a careful sideways glance at him. He was staring at the ground with one hand resting on the holster strapped around his hips, the other briefly scratching his beard as he contemplated her suggestion.

"Commander?" Strongly tempted to call him by his first name instead of his title, Hera exerted considerable will power to hold back from that, fearing he wouldn't tolerate that right now. He stirred again at this, almost startled at hearing her voice so close to him now he'd momentarily been lost in thought.

"OK.." Was all he said in reply, his voice stern and yet sounding as if he'd been on the verge of adding something to that strained monosyllabic answer. Recognizing it for the dismissal that it was, Hera lowered her head in acknowledgement and headed back inside to get Jim. Anything, even starting on her probably farfetched idea, was better than staying. He'd made it clear he was nothing but her Commander today. And she wasn't willing to hurt herself more by remaining in his presence longer than was necessary.

She found Jim still with his wife, he was about to kiss her caringly on her forehead, apparently making her promise to get some well-deserved rest. Automatically casting her eyes down and feeling awkward for interrupting what undoubtedly had been a private moment she'd inadvertently run into now, Hera was of half a mind to turn and leave when Elisabeth's soothing voice called out to her.

"Everything ok?" She inquired kindly, no doubt picking up on the gloomy vibe she might be giving off despite her best intentions to keep her emotions under control.

"First time to...?" Elisabeth probed carefully, subtly leaving the rest of that sentence hanging, which caused Hera's heart to skip a beat or two as the ridiculous idea that it somehow had been apparent that she and Nathaniel had had their first row and were still dealing with the fallout of it had pushed itself forward.

Looking up she saw Elisabeth nudge her head gently in the direction of the Sergeant's body now entirely covered by the strangely clinical coffin and she instantly understood her mistake.

"No.. I'm.. I'm fine." She lied, hoping the woman wouldn't call her on it, color rising to her cheeks as she quickly buried the silly notion that had so hastily entered her head. Somehow the doctor possessed that same unnerving skill that Wash had had, to x-ray her very soul and pry secrets she didn't want to reveal from her heart. She was grateful for the interruption when Jim gestured for her to take the lead and they left together for the garage. Already preoccupied with the job ahead, Hera was glad Jim didn't require her to supply conversation on the way. She was feeling incredibly stupid for jumping to the conclusion that, just because her entire being was filled with it, Elisabeth had noticed anything going on between her and Nathaniel. Perhaps she also felt a tinge of aggravation that although she herself had insisted on a strict division between work and private life, having Nathaniel treat her as indifferent as he had now had stung her more than she could've anticipated.

If he had needed more time to cool off, and she reluctantly had to admit to herself that she probably did, then why call her to be present when he could've radioed her just as easily. Or have Jim brief her on the autopsy report for that matter. At this point, feeling somewhere between hurt and incredibly frustrated, she would've preferred either of those to being ignored. Though it didn't change the fact that she disliked the sudden distance between them with every fiber of her being, even more so in being strongly reminded of it as they'd been in the same room and yet hadn't. It hadn't been her intention to have him shut her out completely when she'd tried to draw a line as to how close they could be when on duty. Apparently that had offended him. But there was no way she was going to admit that if they didn't function together at work, they wouldn't function outside of it. After all, admitting that was, even though it'd felt so good between them up to now, like their relationship would never be able to grow. And that was something that didn't bear thinking about..

Hera refused to tear up, angrily wiping her eyes dry as she knelt down and crawled in between the twisted steel until she was in the driver's seat. She stubbornly forced herself to focus on what she had to do, shoving any thought of what that one mistake of hers had led to instantly to the back of her head where she hoped it would stay long enough to gather dust and be mercifully forgotten..

He waited for the gate to fall back into place with a dull but resounding thud. Taking a step forward Nathaniel ducked his head under the beam at eye level. Arms resting on the sturdy wooden material he leaned on his elbows and stared after the rover as it took off across the stretch of meadow that had been scarred by muddy tire tracks, especially right in front of the imposing entrance to the colony. Corporal Reynolds hadn't found anything in and around the Bone Marshes except for some abandoned campfires and the odd trail that seemed to have gone cold a long time ago. He'd returned only this morning, all covered in smelly mire from days of tramping through the soggy and muddy bogs on the edge of the treacherous wetlands.

And now he'd sent Sergeant Reilly in the Corporal's stead. She'd be gone a while, he wanted every inch of that area combed. His gut told him there were bound to be more than one sneaky Phoenix soldier hiding out there somewhere, and he wouldn't rest until they were found. Lurking about they posed a potential threat to the colony. Maybe already were, he bitterly thought to himself, seeing once again Sergeant Baker's rover at the bottom of that ravine and remembering every single tear glistening on the face of the widow he left behind.

Clasping his hands together and narrowing his eyes to make out the rover which had almost reached the lush vegetation of the jungle beyond, he dragged his thoughts back to the present. Though, watching the dust cloud billowing up behind the vehicle, he couldn't help but be reminded of how he'd debated with himself about sending Hera on the mission. As a young and relatively inexperienced officer the OTG mission would no doubt be beneficial. In the end, though, he'd felt so reluctant to send her away from him when there was still this dissonance between them he'd decided on assigning it to Sergeant Reilly.

Apart from his own perhaps irrational reasoning, he genuinely felt Reilly needed some time away from the colony as it reminded her too much of Baker's death at the moment. The two had come over on the same pilgrimage, walked the same career path and got promoted at the same time too. There was no doubt in his mind she'd been hit hard by the recent loss. But he also knew she would carry out the task he'd assigned her without any lack of focus. Which was probably more than could be said about himself at the moment, Nathaniel realized as the sounds of footsteps behind him approached and irrevocably pulled him from his reverie.

Jim Shannon joined him, leaning forward and supporting himself with one arm stretched out, hand gripping the gate as he peered through it as well. "Think they'll find our missing Phoenix friend this time?"

"I sure hope so, Shannon.." Nathaniel confessed bluntly, feeling it was needless to pretend otherwise with his trusted sheriff. "How's the investigation going? Anything turn up yet?"

"No.." Jim said, briefly tapping his fingers on the dark wood in apparent disappointment, "I checked every inch of that rover at least four times but if there ever was, then I can't find any incriminating evidence at this point. There's no way to get fingerprints that are any good, not after what that car's been through.. And as for DNA traces," He let out a defeated sigh, "I found some but they're either Baker's or belong to those usually driving that rover, all of whom have watertight alibis."

Nathaniel nodded in grim understanding, dreading he was going to have his last remaining hope shot down with his next question but he had to ask, "And the body?"

"Elisabeth assures me she found nothing but the Sergeant's DNA." Was Jim's honest answer and unfortunately the one he had expected to get.

"We've hit a dead end then.." Nathaniel muttered darkly under his breath, finally tearing his gaze away from the spot on the horizon where the rover had disappeared from view some time ago now.

"Not necessarily. We still got the ignition code. Hera's creating a hacking program as we speak, we should be able to know more in a week or so.." Jim pointed out, pursing his lips slightly as he considered the estimate.

"A week?" Nathaniel repeated in mild surprise, turning his head to look the man directly in the eyes.

"Apparently the cache memory unit that stores all the navigational records and other data such as the ignition codes was heavily damaged. Fixing it will take some time, but I have a hunch this might be worth the wait.." Jim explained, standing back from the gate and crossing his arms across his chest as if ready to be taken to court over this now his instinct told him to trust his nose and go for the lead however small and insignificant looking it was at the moment.

Despite the dire situation, a grin appeared on his face at seeing Jim's determination, "Well, you're the detective here, so I guess I'll just trust that hunch of yours then.." Nathaniel gave the man an approving nod and patted him once on the shoulder before leaving, hoping he'd sounded more confident of their success than he felt. Considering their rather ineffective thief hunt so far, he wasn't exactly convinced that they'd be any more lucky in soon finding Baker's killer. At this point he couldn't even rule out those crimes had been committed by the same person. The uncomfortable truth was that, regardless of whether the two cases were linked or not, they'd gone from break-ins to murder in the matter of weeks. In what should've been a safe haven the sanctity of three homes had been violated and a man belonging to his security forces had been threatened; the safety of his family had been threatened. In the end, not least because the man had not been able to reach out to him for help, he'd been brutally silenced. His misjudgment of Baker's hopeless situation and yet the man and not he himself had paid for it with his life. Something stirred uneasily in the pit of his stomach as Nathaniel ascended the stairs to his office. Even though preaching sacrifice he himself was still alive despite the many ordeals Terra Nova and the world they left behind had had to face. Along the way he'd lost his wife, Wash and Lucas. He closed the doors behind him with a sad frown creasing his forehead, he wasn't sure he could ever forgive himself for that..

Not having wanted to return to his empty home, for he doubted very much he'd find Hera there, he'd stayed in his office all night and had kept himself busy with the decision he knew he had to make in the morning. Raising his head from his desk and the pile of plexs on it, he realized he must've succumbed to sleep at some point. He got to his feet, massaging his neck and rolling his shoulders. It was going to be a busy day. After a lengthy internal discussion in which his consciousness had fought a hard battle but agreed to settle on a compromise, Nathaniel had made up his mind. Next week was the colony's annual Harvest Festival. It would coincidentally also roughly be the six month mark of the end of the occupation. First, he'd wanted to cancel it, feeling it was inappropriate to have a day filled with festivities when they hadn't completely tackled their mold problem, let alone caught those thieves and not even buried Sergeant Baker.

As a result he'd spent the better part of the night racking his brain to weigh all the pros and cons of whether to go through with the festival or not. His scientists had assured him that with the help of Malcolm's newly invented pesticide, together with the acquisition of Boylan's secret stock of provisions, they would just be able to scrape by. As long as they continued rationing and limiting the amount of food each family could consume they wouldn't run out of it before the new harvest could be brought in. Provided they didn't waste any food on the day of the festival, there was no real need to cancel it. The argument that had really convinced him what action to take, though, had come from a rather unexpected corner. Sergeant Baker's widow had paid him a visit yesterday afternoon. As if she'd been able to read his mind she'd requested of him to continue with the festivities. He'd admired the strength of the woman as she'd persuaded him of the importance of celebrating life even at this time of death for her personally. Cradling her belly and the child within she'd pressed him to grant her this wish. In the end, recalling her words to him as he pondered the decision over and over again, he'd given in.

Although the many preparations for the festival were taking up a lot of his time over the next few days he couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment each time someone knocked on his doors and it wasn't Hera that entered. He hadn't seen her since the infirmary, except from a distance as he'd stood on the balcony looking out over the square. They'd kept away from each other, making his heart ache every minute of every hour they could've spent together but had been apart instead. He could hardly blame her for staying away though. He'd treated her coldly, almost indifferently even, and all because of his hurt pride when she'd not been there when he'd wanted her to be. When he more or less admitted he couldn't do it on his own, didn't want to, and realized he needed her to feel whole again after years of doing it alone.

Nathaniel knew the case at hand took precedence, but with her squad assigned to organize the PT classes for the handful of new recruits he knew she'd had the time to be there for the autopsy report. And he'd simply given in to his urge to have her there. But then, when he'd seen her, he hadn't known what to do. Even now he didn't understand what he'd been wanting to achieve. Maybe it was their difference in age and experience which had made him aware of the fact he'd have to slow down and accept their relationship for the budding happiness that it was, trusting it would come to full bloom one day when they were both ready for it. He just had to check his impatience, a considerable feat in its own right, but it had to be done.

Nathaniel guessed he'd be lucky if she'd forgive him for how he'd behaved towards her. All because he hadn't been sure why he'd called her to be there. A part of him had wanted to see her, but then he'd ruined it by feeling simply incapable of saying something to her, obviously the circumstances under which they'd gathered making that virtually impossible anyway. He seriously needed to work on those mixed signals he was still sending.

On top of this, recent events made him feel not only not in control of himself but also not in control of the colony. He couldn't blame Hera for this, for distracting him. He was the one expecting too much of her and too soon..

As he pinned a single sober medal on his chest, Nathaniel walked over to the mirror in his bathroom, the only one in his entire unit. He didn't like his reflection in it but decided to ignore the dark frown scowling back at him. Next moment, his heart lifted strangely and perhaps improperly when he thought that he'd see her at the commemoration service for Sergeant Baker an hour later. Though he knew that was neither the time nor the place to talk to her. Maybe all they needed was a short break, he argued inwardly, though the mere thought had something stir in such strong protest inside of him that he instinctively turned his back against his somber expression reflected in the mirror. Brushing down the creases on his uniform jacket he headed outside, face grim and set. Despite the glaring sun overhead Nathaniel felt cold to the bone as he set off for Memorial Field.

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