Thick as Thieves chapter 10
"Welcome to the Taylor residence, Miss Tate," Michael announced, opening the door for Skye. He took her heavy backpack as she looked around in awe. The house looked slightly bigger than hers. Tidier too. Maybe even emptier. But she liked it.
"Nice digs," she smiled, impressed. "Always wondered what the Commander's house looked like."
"Well, now you know," Taylor said, emerging from the other room. They fell silent as the Commander made his entrance. He lingered by the door frame for a beat, tilting his head to the side as he looked over at the girl with concern. "How are you, Skye?"
"Okay, I think." She forced a half-smile. "Thanks for letting me stay with you."
"Of course." He walked over to Michael and put a hand on his shoulder. "Michael will show you to your room and get you settled." He patted his son cheerfully on the back. "I'll be back later." He made his way towards the door. "If you need anything, you know where to find me."
Skye smiled at him gratefully, though she seemed tense. A sadness twinkled in her eye. And then the Commander closed the door and left.
Michael led Skye over to his brother's old room and stood at the doorway. "Here it is," he said, staring inside. "Make yourself at home." He took his time, gazing at the empty bed, the cabinet that still had Lucas' clothes in it, the desk in the corner where he'd sit for hours working on his calculations; hours which then turned in to days, months, years, and then he hardly spent any time in the house at all. Michael sighed, frowning. As Skye wandered inside she looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.
"You okay there?"
He breathed in deeply and took a step forwards. The truth was he hadn't been in this room for a good couple of years.
"This was my brother's room," he answered slowly, looking around as if seeing the memories of a slightly younger Lucas play out in front of him.
She blinked. "You had a brother?"
"Twin brother," he clarified.
"Wow. Did he look like you?"
He laughed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Well, yeah. He kinda did."
She seemed to brighten and she sat down on the bed next to him. "I've never met a twin before. I had no idea. What's it like? Being a twin?"
"What's it like not being a twin?" he retorted, smiling. Although his brother's lengthy absence was already answering that question for him.
"What's his name?"
"Lucas." He hadn't said his name in so long it was beginning to sound foreign on his tongue.
"Where is he?" she questioned. "What happened to him?"
He sighed again, thinking back to that night; the last time he saw his brother in the flesh. When he pointed that gun at their father. When their father beat him, turned the gun on his own son. He still remembered the sound of the gunshot, the echo ringing in his ears, and then he remembered; the gun was in his hand, and the body of a general lay dead in front of him.
He shuddered.
And then Lucas left forever.
He had rehearsed the lie so many times he could repeat it without the slightest bit of hesitation. It was almost as if it were true. He preferred this version to the truth anyway. He turned to her, cleared his throat. "He went missing a few years back," he told her, watching the sympathy grow in her eyes, her expression falling. "We have no idea where he is, what he's doing out there…if he's even alive."
That much, at least, was true.
She was quiet for a moment and she continued to watch him, thinking about his twin, wandering how similar he looked, if he was anything like Michael.
"Have you tried looking for him?" She stopped herself, chewed her tongue. "Sorry – stupid question."
"It's okay. Yeah, I did try," he admitted, though he often felt guilty that he hadn't tried harder. Sometimes he had to remind himself that Lucas didn't want to be found. But Skye didn't know that.
"Let's go look for him," she said, jumping to her feet.
"What?"
"Let's look for him. Let's go outside the gates. I can help you."
"Skye, are you crazy? We can't go OTG. Not without my father's permission."
"Then we'll ask him first."
He shook his head. "He'll never allow it."
"Why not?"
"Because as far as he's considered, Lucas is gone!" he snapped, beginning to lose patience.
She stood in silence for a moment, biting her lip. Then she sat down again, close to Michael, looking at him, smiling sadly. "But he's not gone," she said gently. "My parents – they're gone. But Lucas isn't. You can still get him back. I would do anything to get my parents back. Anything. I know you don't want to give up on your brother. You don't give up on family."
Michael exhaled heavily, closing his eyes. He knew she didn't know the full story, but she was still right. Michael still had hope that Lucas was out there, alive and well, ready to come back home. He hadn't given up, despite the fact that his father had. He would always love his brother, no matter what he did. He couldn't give up on him.
He thought to himself for a brief moment. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to take a short trip OTG, as long as they returned before the Commander noticed their absence. He turned to look at her, her blue eyes gleaming, and he smiled. "Okay." He saw the excitement light up in her face. "But this remains top secret. And we'll be back before nightfall. And no funny business out there. Promise?"
"I promise," she grinned, and she hugged him tightly. "I hope we find him," she murmured in to his shoulder.
"Me too," he said quietly.
Sneaking out was easy enough. The gap underneath the fence where Lucas used to sneak out was still there, so that was where Michael took Skye.
"Where was the last place you saw him?" Skye questioned, leading the way eagerly.
Michael was hesitant to answer. He wasn't keen on going back to that place. Not now, not ever. But he thought he should humour the girl, take her there anyway to show that there was nothing useful there - nothing to lead them to Lucas. He had tried tracking before, but despite his training he was never able to track Lucas. Either his brother was good at covering his tracks or he truly had just disappeared without a trace. He would keep replaying that night over and over again in his head, seeing Lucas vanish in to the bushes, in to the darkness. Gone. He was reminded of the games of Hide and Seek they used to play as children, how Lucas would always whine because he could never find Michael, and then he would stand there for ages, shouting his name, waiting for him to come out. Michael had considered doing that now, yelling Lucas' name until his voice was hoarse. He wondered when it was that his brother became so good at hiding. He wondered if he would ever come out.
"Why don't I lead the way?" Michael suggested, overtaking her.
"Be my guest." She grinned at him. "Hey, how come we aren't allowed OTG more often?"
"What, are you crazy?" he scoffed, shaking his head as they marched onward. "You want to get eaten out here? It's not safe."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. I'll stay away from the big bad dinosaurs."
"But will they stay away from you?" he challenged, pointing at her humorously.
She wrinkled her nose at him. "But this place is so much bigger than Terra Nova. Look at it. It's beautiful." She turned her head up towards the towering trees. "You said so yourself when I first got here. I bet there's way more to discover out here."
He stopped and looked at her. He laughed.
She looked up at him, bemused. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just…" He paused. "It's just a typical Skye thing to say, that's all."
"Oh, because you know me so well."
"I know enough, Squirt."
"Like what?"
"I know you're adventurous," he chuckled. "I know you're brave, strong, positive. You definitely have a mind of your own." He smiled at her. "I also know you're smart and fun – that's a rare combination. And you're a great friend. All in all, Skye Tate, you're just a wonderful person, so don't ever let me see you putting yourself down. Okay?"
She couldn't find the words to reply. She cleared her throat, swallowing back any tears that threatened to emerge, and then she smiled at Michael, surprised at the compliments, but grateful for his kind words.
"You're not so bad yourself," she said in reply.
Michael laughed.
"Let's go."
They walked for another half hour, and then he began to recognise the terrain around them. "We're here," he murmured. "This was the last place I saw Lucas."
She walked in to the clearing and looked around her. "Why here?"
"We, uh…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "We had an argument here."
The memories of that night came flooding back to him – not that they ever left him in the first place – but now he was here it was no longer memory. It was reality. The spot where the portal had opened, the patch of grass where the general's body had lain, it all looked the same. Nothing had changed. Lucas with the gun, waving it at their father, slinking off in to the jungle, muttering threats; Oh, you'll see me again. You both will. He remembered it all
And he remembered what had happened afterwards. Trembling, Taylor had grabbed on to him, gripping on to his shoulders, shouting at him, telling him they had to bury the body. Michael couldn't hear anything. His face paled, his insides twisting, and then he fled to a nearby tree, retching with the repulsion of his actions.
It was when he looked up that he saw Boylan in the shadows, his eyes wide with horror and disbelief. He had stumbled upon the commotion during his nightly patrol. The two were friendly with each other, they had trained together, went on patrol together. Boylan was also close with his father. This was why Michael expected a much worse reaction than he got. But Boylan didn't blame Michael. He told him to go home. He told him he would help his father dispose of the body. In fact, it seemed like Boylan was trying to protect him from what his father couldn't.
So Michael went home and washed the blood from his hands, stared at himself in the mirror, watched his reflection stare back at him with disgust. And he never spoke of it again. But he would always remember. He would see Boylan in the bar and nod to him, smile as if it never happened. But Boylan was the only one who saw the pain he was so used to hiding from people, the guilt. Above anything, he felt sorry for him. No, he didn't blame Michael. He had and always wound blame the Commander.
"What were you arguing about?"
Skye's voice broke him from his thoughts, and he was back in the present. He turned to see her staring at him, noticing his sudden change in expression. She seemed concerned.
"It doesn't matter," he muttered, knowing he could never tell her the truth. He could never tell anybody the truth. What happened here would always remain a secret. At least, that had been the plan. "He went that way."
He pointed towards the bushes where he had last seen Lucas. He heard his last words in his mind again; his apology. Michael still believed he was sincere. Skye wandered over to the spot, examined it briefly before pushing back the branches and continuing onwards.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I've learnt that if you lose something, you retrace your steps," she answered brightly. Her smile was infectious.
He followed her, knowing this was all going to be for nought, but he followed her anyway. Eventually he began to recognise the area again and he stopped.
"We can't go any further."
"Why not?"
"This area's off limits."
"Why?"
"Because the Commander says so."
She crossed her arms. "What are you hiding from me?"
His brows furrowed. "Nothing!"
She scrutinised him, pursing her lips as she stared. She could hear something.
"Is that a waterfall?"
Michael sighed. And then Skye was running away from him, towards Snakehead Falls.
"Skye, wait!"
He chased her towards the falls, his heart racing as she climbed to the top towards the rushing water. He grabbed her as she came to the edge, and he held on to her tightly as if she'd fall.
"Relax, I wasn't going to jump!" she laughed, wriggling in his arms.
He let go of her, still catching his breath. "We can't be here."
"Where's your sense of rebellion, Michael?" she questioned teasingly.
Michael cringed at her choice of words. He thought his family had had enough of rebellion. He respected the rules, even if Skye didn't. Not long ago, he wouldn't have opposed a little bit of mischief, but that was before he found the drawings. That was before his father made this place off limits. And he knew when the Commander was being deadly serious.
"The Commander's not going to know," she told him.
"He trusts me. He trusts both of us."
She didn't say anything.
"We should go back to camp. Forget about this. We're not going to find him."
Skye frowned sadly at him, watched his green eyes sail down to the ground. She held out her hand. "Jump with me."
"What?" he spluttered.
"Let's jump."
"No way."
She frowned at him. "I know you're hurting. We both are. Life is filled with so much pain, and for once I don't want to sit at home thinking about how much loss I've suffered, how much misery I'm going through. I don't want people telling me how sorry they are about my parents. I don't want to feel sorry for myself. I want to take risks. I want to enjoy life. And I really want to jump off this waterfall, and I think you do too."
She stared at him for what seemed like ages, refusing to break his gaze. He released a long, drawn out sigh and looked away. She was always right. He paused a beat. And then he stepped forward and took her hand.
Looking down below, he held his breath.
"It'll be okay," she grinned. "On the count of three." She squeezed his hand and began to count. "One. Two. Three!"
Together, they jumped, bellowing out screams that echoed through the air. It was a long jump. They soared. Michael's heart raced, the wind blowing through his hair. He felt like he was flying; he felt free. The last thing he saw before hitting the water was Skye's smiling face, laughing with him.
He tore through the water, gasping for air, still laughing. Skye bobbed up next to him, her hair soaked. She was still laughing too.
"I can't believe you made me do that!" he shouted, splashing her.
"It was fun, right?" she giggled, splashing him back.
"We're gonna to be in so much trouble, I hope you realise. I'm supposed to be watching you."
"Stop worrying!" she demanded. "Have you learnt nothing?"
"I've learnt that you're insane, now come on."
He took her hand again and pulled her towards dry land, still smiling. As he reached the bank, he felt Skye tugging on his arm, and as he turned around to face her he suddenly felt her lips being pressed against his. The kiss only lasted a couple of seconds until Michael overcame the initial surprise and managed to pull away, releasing Skye and almost causing her to stumble back in to the water.
"I'm sorry, that was dumb," she blurted out, embarrassed.
He turned away from her and began to walk towards a nearby tree.
She followed him, squeezing the water out from her hair and clothes. "Please say something."
"We can't."
"I get it. I was being stupid."
"No," he turned to look at her blushing face. She was biting her lip. "It's…" He paused, unsure what to say. He had never looked at Skye that way before, and not just because of her age. He thought about voicing this point aloud before realising that she was more than just a kid to him. Besides, pointing out the age difference made him a bit of a hypocrite. He sighed, watching her worried gaze. "There's someone else," he told her.
"Of course there is," she smiled sadly. "Who?"
He sat down, fiddling with his hands. He debated whether to tell her the truth. There were so many secrets now, chipping away at him, suffocating him. He wanted to tell her something. In the end, he knew he could trust her. After this ordeal she at least deserved the truth. "Lieutenant Washington," he told her, looking up at her face. At last he felt some relief.
"Oh." She sat down next to him. "I didn't know."
"Nobody does. Not even my father." He looked at her more seriously. "That's why you can't tell anybody. It's a secret."
"I can keep a secret," she smiled. "For the record, I think you two are kind of cute."
"Thank you, Skye."
"You're welcome."
"Let's forget about this and go home." Skye looked unsure. "It's okay. We don't have to find him today. We don't have to be sad. We tried and we took risks. We can be happy about that."
"So you have learnt something," she grinned.
"I learned from the best," he winked. "Come on."
He took her hand and helped her to her feet. She didn't see the markings on the wall across from them. Michael was relieved about that. But in the future, she would, and she would discover the truth about Lucas. For now though, some things just needed to remain a secret.
tbc
A/N – I'd just like to thank all my readers for being so patient and sticking with me and this fic! I never expected so many reviews/readers so THANK YOU so much :D:D Hope you liked this. More to come!