A/N: First of all, my big apology for the lateness of the update. I know that I told you guys that I will be updating this as soon as possible and I did try to write last week but couldn't find the time because I was super busy. So now it's already in the middle of the night, and I haven't finished my assessment that will due tomorrow morning and yet I'm still updating this chapter. This is my devotion to you guys! I hope you forgive me. ;)

I won't be babbling much for this chapter. Just read it because I can't give you further explanation about what happened within the perfectly 13th chapter of my story. So just get on with it and don't forget to leave me some reviews because I'd love to know what you guys think about it.

Enjoy! *fingerscrossed*

Disclaimer: Oh Fox...

Chapter 13: Unmasked

When Skye opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the absence of his warmth around her. She shifted slightly from her position and sat up groggily, letting her gaze wandered through the entire space, trying to find the figure she was looking for but he was nowhere to be found.

She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, relishing the mixed emotions she had in the inside. She had slept through the night in his house, again, and this time she couldn't find the feel of regret hanging on her chest. A little smile appeared on her lips as the memory from the previous night playing in her mind.

She could still feel the trace of warmth where his body pressed up against her in a tight embrace. The way he caressed her throughout the night every time she shifted in her sleep, whispering incoherent words in her ear that were blurry in her deep state of unconsciousness. It felt surreal to have him beneath her fingertips. The feel of his skin, his scent, his overwhelming presence, they had engulfed her in unexplainable feelings that were haunting her body and soul. She yearned for him even more than before. He had opened the part of her that she never knew it existed. She couldn't deny it anymore. She had fallen for him. No more doubts and setbacks as her feelings were already out in the open now.

She stood up slowly and found a little note on the low table in front of her. She took the shredded paper in her hand and smiled when she knew he had left it to let her know that he would be gone for a while to take care of Malcolm's urgent issue in the lab. But the happiness she felt disappeared as quickly as it came as the last two words on the bottom of the paper caught her attention.

"I'm sorry." Yet another form of plead had been offered to her. It was supposed to be a clear message and yet she found it hard to accept the words bluntly. There was something inside those simple words that had bothered her as if they were more lethal than just a mere apology.

She quickly pushed the thought away, focusing herself back to the written note in her hand. It was too much to accuse him after what he had been going through for the past two months. He was still on his way to recovery. Even though physically he had regained his abilities back, but emotionally she knew it must be a constant internal battle to determine who he really was. It pained her to see him struggled to find the answer from his dark and fragile past, where he could only find the emptiness that would never satisfy his hunger for the viable truth that were erased permanently from his memory.

She made a silent promise to herself that she would explain everything he needed to know once he came back. There was no point of hiding anymore from him. It was all laid out on the table, the cards had been revealed. He already sank deep in her life, etching his mark perfectly on her skin, just like the two scars she marked on his chest. She had entangled herself severely on him. The act of compensation had transformed into something more intimate and personal, bombarding her little world with the guilt and pity for his tormented life.

She couldn't seem to cope with the situation as it had consumed her thoroughly without mercy. But somehow she managed to endure it, letting the stabs of pain divulged from her flesh, fighting with all her strength just to be with him. It had been paid off with his constant affection, filling her internally with warmth and endless desire. But she feared it might be just temporary, that he might slip from her grasp in a matter of seconds. It was all seemed too easy, as if she was reaching up to the sky and caught the droplets of water in her hand on a rainy day.

It didn't make sense to her, how she had the courage to speak up her mind to Taylor, and how she managed to bring Lucas back to the colony. It never came across her mind on how smooth it was from the beginning until now. Even when Lucas lost his memory, she was being forgiven easily without a slight hatred bored into her. It must've been some miracle to have this kind of life after all the damages she did in the past. It was a rough patch along the way, but now she managed to see a speck of light at the end of the dark passage she'd been going through for her whole life.

It was all because of him. He had dragged her in and out of the darkness. At first she thought he was a curse, a glitch in her life that would always leave a scratch to her already beaten up soul. But as the time passed, he became her savior, the one that she held for her dear life.

He took the tender spot in her heart, shoving his way in with a forceful act that made her screamed in agony as she felt him securing his place in the very core of her being. But she let him, scraping and bruising her until there was nothing left except the numbness from the pain, and the acceptance that seemed to be part of her lunacy.

After awhile she decided to have a little stroll inside his house. It would kill her time more effectively rather than sitting around on the couch, letting her mind wander to the unwanted thoughts that agitated her even more. Whatever happened between her and Lucas was never part of her agenda. It was supposed to be wrong, but now she saw it as the only right thing to do because resistance never brought any positive result to her.

She circled the living room slowly, trying to focus her mind to the surroundings as much as possible. The area was pretty much deserted as if he had never been around when he didn't need to. The couch probably being used when she came by, but she doubted he ever visited the living room again when she wasn't there.

She continued her tour to the kitchen. He didn't seem to use it often as she could see the utensils still tucked in the place where they were being put in the first place for the display of the new house in Terra Nova. Every unit in the colony had the same structure and interior, and therefore she was very familiar with these details.

She surveyed other areas and stopped in a particular spot where she felt her curiosity being held since the first time she walked into his house. She held the handle gingerly and surprised as the door creaked open by the slightest shove from her hand. She quickly stopped the movement of the door, hiding herself from the sight before her. A rush of guilt started to creep beneath her skin. It didn't feel right to invade his privacy but she couldn't seem to hold the urge to push the door further.

Finally she took a deep breath and loosened her grip on the handle, letting the door swung open by itself and revealed the inside abruptly for her eyes. She stood there, pulling herself off from reality as the wave of pain struck her brutally with an unbearable truth that left her with nothing but emptiness and a hollowed soul.

Lucas walked silently along the road with agitated expression written all over his face. His day began with Malcolm's urgent call in the morning, leaving him with no other choice but to leave Skye alone in his house at the most critical time of his mission to get the calculations done.

His deal with Mira had been sealed with an agreement to get everything on set in a week, which was a very short period of time for him to finalize the last equation on the formula he assembled to reopen the portal. It wasn't easy to find the right calculation, as once the portal being shut, he had to recalculate everything from the beginning, finding the accurate amount of fracture to get the time realm opened at the exact position.

He had finally managed to get the right calculation after several errors and failures, but then another problem struck him. He thought the little invention of the device he made to get in touch with Mira would solve his relentless nightmare but it had made the situation became worse. Now he didn't have much time to finish everything. He would be going before he could finish the calculation inside The Eye. The worse would be refining the work without the help from the most up to date device in the colony. And that was a huge disappointment as it was part of his plan in the first place to let himself being tortured under his precious father's domain.

His mind wandered back to Skye and he couldn't help but feel a little leap of excitement dawned inside him at the thought of her. It was not good idea to leave her unattended as anything could happen when a realization came to her that she had obtained the freedom to rove around his house. It would be the least of his concern if he didn't have this uncanny mission weighing on his shoulders, pushing him to do what he thought would be the best to get the unfinished revenge for the mighty Commander. But it was his life, his ambition, his future, and he couldn't turn away as it was being set for him since he was 14 years old.

He took a little sprint as he saw the destination in front of him. The air felt heavy as he tried to suppress the agonizing fear on his chest. He hoped to see her lying on the couch, untouched and unharmed in her own oblivion. But he felt a wave of dread washed over him as he turned the handle and pushed the door, only to find the last thread of hope shattered in front of his eyes when he saw the couch was empty.

Her body trembled frantically as she traced the delicate handwriting beneath her fingertips. Her thoughts were spinning in a raging storm, breaking every last piece of her sanity as she tried to deprive the vivid nightmare that lied barely before her.

Her breath caught in her throat as her hands settled on the shimmering device on the table. The surface glinted from the reflection of the sun shone through the small window on the corner of the room, showing its heavy presence and authority that seemed to be visible around it, emanating the power buried in the inside. A painful fact dawned on her as she held the device in her hands, realizing it was her foolishness to fall into this macabre act of his twisted mind.

She couldn't believe that she had let herself swayed by his poisonous charm. The situation had been turned upside down as she stood there, eyes staring emptily to the horrendous sight in front of her. The sweet promises and beautiful words crumbled to her feet, knowing that they had been a lie all along. He had used her in every possible way he could, shredding her barrier until she was laid open with nothing to hide anymore. She had surrendered to him, trusting him with her heart, believing that he had changed completely to a sane man. But now she knew the truth. It was far from what she had expected.

The damage was beyond repair. She was broken until there was nothing left of her to be preserved. Her feet glued into her position, couldn't find the ability to move as the numbness spread across her entire body. Her hand found the strength to open the drawer underneath the table. It was just an impulsive gesture as her brain was already disconnected from her body, leaving her paralyzed and dying in the inside. Her eyes caught an object hidden beneath the crumpled papers and she took it gingerly in her hand. The least she could do was to protect whatever she had left.

She closed her eyes and clutched the object tightly with her fingers, releasing the tension and pain through her grip with all her strength until her knuckles turned white. Sweats appeared across her forehead as the tears started to prick her eyes. Her heart raced in her chest as she heard the footsteps echoed on the walls around her. And before she knew it, she had turned around and aimed the object in her hands at him.

The first thing he felt was a panic coursing through his veins. He tried to calm himself down and think of a possible alternative beside her exploration around the house. It was too quiet to decipher the situation. There was no sign of her anywhere and it agitated him even more.

His mind scattered into a mess as he took a tentative steps towards his room. The empty hope that came from his silent prayer was overbearing as he finally stood by the door, realizing it was too late to turn the situation around.

His body froze as he saw her tensed at his presence and spun around, holding a gun straightly to his chest with her trembling hands.

"I won't hurt you." His voice sounded foreign in her ear. It didn't match with the fact that he was an absolute liar, a demon in the inside. He took a few steps towards her as she hooked her finger to the trigger at the base of the gun. "Take another step and I will not hesitate to pull the trigger on you!" She shouted hysterically. Her eyes dilated with anger, sorrow, and fear.

"Skye." He tried to reason with her but she took a step forward and pressed the tip of the gun to his chest. "Stay where you are, Lucas! Don't make me do this!" Her voice broke to a screaming mess as tears streaming down her cheeks. Lucas reached out to touch her but she jerked backwards until she stumbled to the ground.

"Don't touch me, you bastard! You're such a sick, pathetic, liar!" She tried to hold her gun firmly but found it hard with her body shaking furiously from the pent-up emotions inside her. Lucas held his gaze on her emptily. There were no words came out from his mouth as she was cradling herself on the floor, screaming and writhing in endless pain.

"I didn't have any other choice." He finally spoke after a long agonizing pause between them. She was still sobbing on the floor, couldn't process his words in her mind. "My mother's debt hasn't been repaid. It will only be fulfilled once he's already on his deathbed, begging for my mercy." She looked up to him with disgust scorching from her eyes. "You're sick, Lucas! And I was the fool who believed every words you said!" She tried to stand up but failed at her own attempt, finding her feet were completely paralyzed.

Lucas kneeled in front of her, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I said I'm sorry." He murmured inaudibly, finding his words would never have an effect on her anymore as she spat back everything he said. She found her strength and ran her hand straight across his face. He was stunned by the sudden attack and felt his cheek throbbing as the wave of pain struck him. "I hate you." She muttered through her gritted teeth, finding it hard to let the words spilled from her mouth when her heart still screamed the other way around.

She was about to stand up when Lucas caught her arms and pinned her to the floor. She was thrashing beneath him, trying to get herself free from his iron grip around her. "Where do you think you're going? Don't ever think you can get out from this mess you've made on yourself." He whispered threateningly to her. His affection had turned into a sadistic glare. She couldn't find the warmth in his eyes. It was being replaced by the renewed hunger for the mindless ambition of his future.

She felt the fear started to run down her spine. In an instant her mind tried to think of a way to escape, and her eyes searching frantically for the gun that was left on the floor beside her, but she couldn't reach it as his hands were still pinning her firmly in place.

She felt Lucas' grip loosened on her and she took it as a chance to get away from him. She sat up quickly and shoved him as hard as she could until he stumbled slightly to the back, giving her room to breathe and grabbed the gun from the floor. She managed to get on her feet just in time he gripped her legs and threw her to the desk. She fell hardly on the top of the desk, feeling the edge of the communicating device piercing through her back. She tried to sit up but felt a painful stab on her back from where the device wounded her. She reached out to touch it and felt a warm liquid started to trickle from the wound.

Before she could get into her next step, Lucas came into view and hovered above her. There was a trace of worry and guilt in his manic eyes but it was quickly disappeared as she took a fistful of papers in her hand and threw them right at his face. She slid down and crawled beneath him, quickly taking the gun back in her hands and aimed it at him before he yanked it from her and tossed it roughly to the floor.

"You can't keep playing your game on me, Skye. You will never win." He murmured darkly. She felt her body shivered at his words as he trapped her between his arms on the floor. His gaze locked tight with hers. "I wish we were not in this kind of situation." His voice faltered. " But you leave me no choice, Bucket. You've ruined everything." Her mind snapped back to reality and she took an impulsive gesture by reaching over him and grabbed a sharp object that she had been eyeing on since she came to the room.

She stabbed him without hesitation and he cried out in pain as the little blade from the paper knife hit his shoulder. For a moment she had time to escape, to run from the eerie nightmare and hoping she would wake up, safe and warm in his embrace. But it was too late, as she sprinted through the door, she felt a sudden blow hitting her back violently, throwing her right to the wall and sagged to the floor. Her vision became blurry and she couldn't breathe. Her ribs were aching every time she tried to fill her burned lungs with air. She rested her head on the floor as reality started to slip away from her grasp.

The last thing she remembered was the excruciating pain that didn't come from the physical torment, but it came from the utter realization of pure betrayal.

And finally everything went black.

I'm sorry. I never intended to make a happy love story for them. :'(