It was early in the morning when Eko stretched beside Iris. They had both been awake for some time now, but unwilling to get up yet.

"Today's a big day." Eko's soft voice entered Iris' ears.

She rolled over and petted the wolf. "Yeah. It is."

The morning didn't consist of anything important. She showered, ate a small breakfast, and gathered all of her things for the day.

Taylor woke up somewhere in between, but they didn't speak to one another. Iris didn't know if he was still upset with her, or if he just wanted distance. She shook her head from her thoughts. He's not one to want distance when there is a confrontation.

Maybe he's respecting her by letting her have her distance for the day.

Without sharing any words, Iris left the house. Eko followed after her with an energetic step in his stride. His tail wagged in his trot.

At the gate, Washington stood beside Jim discussing the day's routine. Iris joined in the conversation. She was given her special tablet to work on that automatically synced with the lab during her research. Jim offered her a smile.

Iris felt awkward from the expression. She thought that Jim disliked her, but he seemed different now. Maybe his opinion changed when Malcolm chose her for this research.

Shannon and Josh stood by the vehicle Iris would be going in. Shannon and Josh were coupled with Iris. Washington and a man named Jack would accompany Jim.

Iris looked over the tablet with a frown. The tablet showed that she would be in the second quadrant, but she remembered Malcolm telling her the fourth.

She glanced up to see if Malcolm was around, but he wasn't. She thought about going to the laboratory to ask him about the quadrants, but Shannon walked over to her.

"It's time to go." He stated.

"All right." She spoke as she followed after him.

He walked over to the driver side and opened the door. Iris paced to the passenger side when Josh beat her to the door. She stopped abruptly with a blank stare.

He wore a security uniform. She glared at Shannon who had a smile on his face. She walked closer to the vehicle and was surprised when Josh turned to her with a smile.

She didn't return the expression.

He opened the door for her.

She merely stood there.

Josh, feeling heat flush to his face, spoke, "I-is something wrong, miss Faye?"

"Iris." She replied. "And I'm getting the passenger seat. You get in the back."

He became flustered. "Um, it would be safer for you to-uh, well- sit in the back, and I get the front. That way if we run into anything, then-"

"Just stop." She cut him off and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm a better shot than you. You are only being punished, now get in the back and just sit there."

Shannon averted his gaze to hide his smirk. For once, he wasn't the one on the receiving end of her comments.

Josh's eyes fell to the ground, but he didn't move. "Um… sorry. I didn't mean disrespect."

Iris sighed. "You're not being disrespectful, okay? Just sit in the back. I need to get in and out of the vehicle often without the need of you two doing the same."

"Ye-yes ma'am." He drops his gaze and hops in the vehicle. Eko jumps into the back seat with Josh. She followed in behind him and closed the door.

Shannon leans over and whispers, "Anytime you get out, I am required to get out."

"Yeah, I know. I just hate the back seat."

She catches his smile as he straightens back up.

"All right. Here we go." Shannon said.

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"Stop the rover." Iris tells Shannon. He does the request and she hops out.

Shannon follows after her, and Josh waits near the vehicle with Eko.

Eko looks over to the teenage boy and he is not amused. Josh watches Iris as she hunches down and examines different footprints.

"You like Iris." Eko said.

Josh, shocked, glanced to the wolf. "Wh-what?"

"You like her. Don't lie. Animals have a tendency to know when a human is lying."

Josh averts his eyes to the various trees. "Stop avoiding." Eko called out.

"Okay! Fine, I like her. You happy?"

"No." Eko added shortly. "Tell me why."

"Why what?"

"Why do you like her?"

"Oh… um. Well, she's very brave. And independent."

"Uh, boring."

"What?"

"Speak from your feelings. Tell me why you really like her."

Josh looks over to Iris. She examines a plant with a big smile to Shannon. Even he is sharing in gladness with her.

"I like her smile. After what I know she's been through, she holds herself well. She's withstood against most of Terra Nova and especially my dad's disapproval. I find her to be really funny."

Eko observes the teenager. "You're a weird kid."

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Iris jerked her attention to behind her. She heard something. She knows she did.

"What's wrong?" Shannon asked to her.

Her eyes glanced to various areas in the woods, but nothing caught her attention. "It's nothing."

This was the fourth stop they've made today. Earlier, they passed by some dinosaurs that were not common around Terra Nova. Luckily, they were herbivores and were no threat to Terra Nova. After some pictures and a few sketches, Iris was finished with them.

She observed their eating habits, but they appeared to be the same to the other plant eaters around here.

Iris looked to Shannon who had a worried expression. "Everything okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, yeah. Everything is fine. Just thought I heard something."

"Well, where to from here."

"I think-" She saw a person move from the bushes. His weapon was pointed toward Shannon and Iris.

"Shannon!" She yelled as she pushed him out of the way and dove for the ground. The man fired his weapon and just missed them, barely.

Iris quickly reached into her side pant's pocket and pulled out her compacted bow. She pressed a button and it flicked to its full size. The man prepared his weapon and aimed at her.

Iris scurried to her feet and pulled her bow to full draw. The electricity surged through the bow. She released without fully aiming, but it struck the man in his right arm. He screamed and shot his second shot from the pain.

It hit Iris and sent her flying backwards. The back of her head hit a tree. Blood seeped out of her hair and she lost consciousness.

Shannon and Josh shot several sonic blasts at two other men that appeared. They were soon knocked unconscious.

Lucas materialized from the behind a tree with a wicked grin. His scruffy hair fell loosely atop his head as he made his way to Iris.

He took out a syringe with that still present grin. "You have a role to play, darling." He plunged the syringe into her neck. He let it all drain into her blood and gave the empty syringe to another man. Lucas picked up Iris and walked deeper into the forest.