Chapter 43

The Day of Reckoning

Morning dawned bright and rather warm, as late summer days tended to be. There was still a slight breeze around - the people putting up the wedding tent had rather an exciting time - but all in all, it was a perfectly acceptable day on which to get married. Lucas woke up early, perhaps due to the unusual amount of activity around the place. He sat on his doorstep for a little while, watching with interest as several busy groups hurried past, before eventually finding himself following one such cluster out to the front of the colony. Here he surveyed the preparations for the next hour or so, lending a hand here and there as needed. Finally, the area was ready, and the workers stood back and examined their efforts with satisfaction. Lucas turned to see Skye hovering uncertainly in the street some distance up and abandoned the others to wander over. When he neared, she stopped her pacing and joined him on the side of the path, playing with her hands nervously and taking an unsteady breath, which sounded like it caught in her throat half-way down.

"Well, it's about that time."

He smiled a little.

"You look .. nice." In reality, she looked a little strange. Nice, but .. strange. Maybe he was so used to seeing her in her work clothes that now she simply didn't seem like herself. However, the blue dress was the right size and a decent colour. As far as wedding attire went, he was no expert .. at all .. but he supposed it was appropriate.

"Thanks." Skye squirmed. "It's a little itchy, but it'll do, I guess."

"It looks nice." Lucas repeated, apparently unable to think of any other adjectives at that particular point in time. He glanced around. "Where are the others? I thought you were supposed to be chaperoning the bride."

"Over there." Skye nodded to where Elisabeth and Zoe were crouching down in front of Maddy, who was sitting on a bench in her own dress. "Family moment."

"Ah."

She began to wander slowly towards the large white marquee set up above the 'square' as it billowed gently in the breeze.

"Can't believe it's finally the day."

Lucas walked along beside her. He appeared to be a lot calmer than she felt.

"I know. I've been hearing about it for so long, it might as well be my own wedding."

Skye snorted, glancing back distractedly towards the others.

"Planning one, are you?"

Lucas grinned.

"Nah, you haven't said yes yet."

"I don't seem to remember you down on one knee pleading for my hand." Skye remarked dryly. "Somehow I think that would've stuck with me."

"Alright, what would you say if I did?" He watched her solemnly, all trace of humour falling from his features. To Skye, it almost seemed like he was paused mid-movement, as though he was prepared to go down on one knee then and there. She stammered in shock, gesturing helplessly back up the street.

"I .. I should probably .."

"Bucket." She paused as a faint smile crept back onto Lucas' face. "You should really learn how to take a joke."

Skye forced a laugh and raised a hand to her hair, remembering at the last second that she wasn't supposed to touch it for fear of messing it up. She lowered the hand again and bit her lip instead.

"Sorry. I'm .. kind of preoccupied."

"I can see that." He grinned a little and inclined his head. "Go on."

She cleared her throat and nodded in a business-like manner. He watched with a smile as she returned to join the other female members of the wedding party.

"Making plans, are we, Taylor?" Lucas suddenly found his shoulder being enthusiastically slapped, the noise resounding up the street as Carter appeared beside him. "Shame her father's dead. It'd never work."

Lucas turned to look at him. He was hardly surprised. The Sixer had a habit of appearing from nowhere at the most peculiar times, usually offering some cryptic statement that wasn't worth justifying with a response. This time, however, he decided to bite, feigning boredom as he glanced up at the tent.

"What are you going on about?"

"Colony rules." Came the short reply. "Groom has to ask the bride's father for her hand. Hers is dead."

"I know that."

Carter waited.

"And .. ?"

Lucas stared at him blankly.

"And .."

"And in place of her father, her guardian steps in."

"And .. ?"

"And Skye's guardian is .."

A look of irritation crossed Lucas' face as he turned to glare around at the bright decorations, his eyes falling at the same time onto a freshly-trimmed man in a clean black uniform standing near the outskirts of the circle.

"My father."

"Bingo." Carter took a bite of an apple he'd plucked from a nearby table and shook his head. "Having to ask your own father for your woman's hand in marriage .. I don't envy you that one."

He straightened up as the musicians began to gather up their instruments.

"Not that Skye seems particularly inclined anyway. Think she'd rather step in front of a bullet than marry you." Carter gave his companion's back a second rather harsh slap and wandered off, taking another bite of his apple. "Well, best of luck."

Lucas glared after him, the space between his shoulder blades throbbing angrily.

"Where are you going? It's about to start."

Carter shrugged.

"Never cared much for weddings."

As he deserted the proceedings, the security team spurred themselves into action, all dressed neatly in their best black uniforms. By the time the musicians had reached their third bar, they had organised themselves into a wide tunnel, overshadowing the path on both sides with their branches outstretched. It was a tradition Taylor had started back in the day when the first member of his security team had gotten married. The tunnel of honour had been repeated ever since - when the music began, the security team formed two lines and took up their branches, forming a canopy for the bride to walk under as she approached the central platform. It was this tunnel that Zoe was now passing through, followed closely by Skye. Mark stood at the end, looking as though his heart was about to beat out of his chest.

Dunham grinned at the nervous groom and muttered to the man beside him.

"Well, what do you know. I guess romance isn't dead after all."

Silas peered over at him from the other direction, his outstretched branch leaning alarmingly to one side as he did so.

"If we're thinking of planning an assassination, I'll do it for free."

There were a few stifled chuckles from around the group. Dunham snorted softly.

"Appropriate, considering you're probably half the reason she flatlined in the first place."

Silas grinned begrudgingly. Several more chuckles were accompanied by a few whispered "Ohhhh"s, and then a muffled "Shut up ..". An uneasy Curran had finally fallen victim to Reilly's icy glare across the aisle. Warning received. The boys fell quiet and lowered their branches gently, laying them on the ground just as Maddy reached the end of the aisle and turned to hug her parents. The security team, their job completed, spread out in silence to find their seats as Maddy stepped up to take her place beside Mark.

The ceremony was starting.

As his sister reached the end of the path and came to stand under the woven arch, Josh put his guitar carefully to the side and blinked hard, attempting to swallow the lump in his throat. He met Skye's eyes as he stood. She studied him for a moment and then seemed to give him a look that was both amused and sympathetic. Josh turned to glance down at his parents in an attempt to distract himself as the vows began.

Big mistake.

His mother was holding it together fairly well, though her eyes glistened with tears. His father, on the other hand, had a conspicuously damp face. Josh watched in surprise as Jim took a shaky breath, his chin wobbling a touch as he stared straight ahead. The lump in Josh's throat almost doubled as he hurriedly turned back to the bride and groom.

Just a few more minutes. Everyone's watching. Don't be an idiot. Breathe. Think of the stupidest thing you can imagine. Inky's clumsiness. Boylan's back room gambling ring. That time Hunter had a parasite. Maddy's obsession with- no, not Maddy! Abort. Uh .. hnn .. trench duty. Dangit, it wasn't working!

He looked down to see his youngest sister staring at him with a wide grin on her face. He narrowed his eyes at her. Zoe returned the look. At the same moment, Boylan raised his voice gravely.

"I now pronounce you man and wife."

Josh blinked as Mark and Maddy laughed and stepped closer to one another. A few seconds later, the clapping began. He turned back to his parents. They were standing and clapping tearfully with the rest of the crowd. It was over?! Already? A moment later, he found his sister's arms around him. One of the flowers in her hair poked uncomfortably into his neck as he numbly hugged her back. Someone slapped him on the shoulder. Someone else was shaking him joyfully. He couldn't even make out who. He watched Mark and Maddy walk back down the path, hand in hand. Moments later, they were hidden from view as a mass of excited bodies swarmed them all at once. What .. the colours seemed to be swimming through themselves. And was that the ground moving? His head suddenly began to spin unsteadily and he reached out for support, finding a strong arm nearby to cling to.

"Woah."

Boylan held onto him firmly as Josh swayed a little, the barkeeper staring at his pale face with a frown.

"You good?"

Josh glanced at him blankly and then stared back out at the crowd, hearing a faint buzzing and popping in his inner ears.

"Y-Yeah."

He blinked, feeling as though he was coming out of a dream.

It was over.

The next hour seemed to drag by horrendously slowly. By the time they had been stopped by every single person in the colony besides the ones they actually wanted to talk to (or so it seemed anyway), Mark's stomach was growling so loudly that even Maddy, who was talking to someone several feet away, was able to clearly hear it. On one of these instances, she turned in surprise, laughing as she caught sight of his humiliated expression. She politely excused herself from the conversation and stepped closer, slipping her arm through his with a grin.

"Hungry?"

"Just a bit." Mark's sheepish expression turned to horror as his stomach growled angrily again. Maddy shouted with laughter.

"Guess it is time. Come on, before you swoon."

Mark allowed himself to be led meekly to the buffet, where his new in-laws appeared to have recently taken up residence. Jim turned as they approached, hurriedly swallowing the food in his mouth. He nodded, addressing them solemnly.

"Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds."

Mark smiled, looking a little nervous.

"Hey .. Dad!"

His father-in-law's expression hardened.

"Oh, it's still Mr. Shannon to you, Reynolds."

Mark froze for a moment, throwing an aghast glance at Elisabeth, who ribbed her husband sharply.

"Jim!"

Jim's solemn expression cracked as he defended his ribs, his face breaking into a large grin.

"Alright, alright-ow! I'm just kidding, Mark." He reached out and took Mark's hand, shaking it firmly. "Congratulations."

Mark's crestfallen face had almost immediately turned upside down and now shone with happiness. Jim pulled him into a hug, patting his back affectionately before releasing him. When he had retreated and Elisabeth had had her turn, Mark threw a laughing glance at Maddy, who leaned up to kiss his cheek when she saw the tears in his eyes.

Josh, watching from a few metres away, turned back to the man he was supposed to be interacting with, attempting to distract himself and conceal the jealous surge of annoyance inside him. The man was elbowing him knowingly, making some irritating comment about "wedding fever". Josh glared at him in silence, the result of which was that the man suddenly found he had somewhere else to be quite urgently. Tasha, who had taken charge of most of the conversation anyway, politely waited until the man was out of earshot before she turned to Josh, a smile playing on her lips.

"What is it?"

Josh looked around distractedly.

"What?"

"I saw your face." Tasha put a hand on his arm, drawing his eyes back to her face. "You'll never be replaced, you know."

Josh raised his eyebrows a little.

"I didn't realise I was that transparent."

She shrugged, smiling up at him.

"Maybe I'm just getting to know you."

"Maybe you are."

"Oh, it's you, Nathaniel." A few metres away, Deborah attempted to calm her racing heart as the hand on her arm retreated. Taylor eyed her with an apologetic expression. What had made her jump so badly? He hadn't been rough. In fact, he'd barely touched her. And yet her reaction had been so instantaneous. He smiled a little.

"Sorry. It's so loud, I had to get your attention somehow."

"Before I ran off, you mean." Deborah laughed, glancing down at her walking stick. Taylor's eyes followed.

"I heard you were unwell again. I'm sorry."

"It's no one's fault." She accepted Taylor's offered arm and allowed herself to be led to the edge of the crowd where the noise level was more manageable. Taylor supplied her wordlessly with a chair and perched on the edge of a table himself. Deborah smiled as she lowered herself down.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They sat and watched the proceedings in silence, looking rather a distinguished pair. After a few minutes, Taylor sighed a little and turned back to her.

"If there's anything you need, I want you to know you can come to me."

Deborah looked up at him, smiling gently.

"Thank you, Nathaniel."

"After all, we are almost family."

Deborah's smile took on a blank expression, and Taylor knew he had no choice but to elaborate. He shifted his position on the table.

"Well, Skye is like a daughter to me - always has been, and from where I'm sitting, it appears you've more or less adopted my son." He folded his arms and shrugged as thought the matter was settled. "I'd say that just about makes us family, wouldn't you?"

Deborah smiled again and nodded her polite agreement. Taylor studied her for a moment and then laughed.

"Well, now I've just gone and made it awkward, haven't I?"

Deborah couldn't help laughing a little as well when she looked up and saw the acute note of discomfort he was trying valiantly to suppress. She shook her head at him.

"No, you're right, I suppose. I just never really considered it before."

"Hm." Taylor shifted his weight again and stared out at the falling sun with a sigh of relief. "Well, no matter what the situation is, the fact remains, I'm here if you need me."

"Thank you." Deborah repeated sincerely, smiling up at him. "Perhaps one day, I'll need to take you up on it."

"I hope you never have to." Taylor replied seriously. "But no one can predict the future. If the time comes when you just can't handle things on your own - anything, no matter what it is - I hope you'll come to me."

"I will. Don't worry."

The former commander nodded, smiling down at her with satisfaction.

"Good."

"You're going to get that all over your dress, you know."

"Worrywart." Zoe chewed thoughtfully on the last of her coconut tart. Josh eyed her.

"How many of those have you had anyway?"

Zoe ignored him, swallowing her final bite with a satisfied smile before glancing around hopefully at the other platters on the table. Seeing nothing of interest, she turned back to her brother in mild disappointment.

"Isn't it nice Mark belongs to us now?"

"Yeah, like a good dog." Josh muttered. His youngest sister eyed him rebukingly.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"You should be happy!" Zoe instructed him in a motherly fashion. "Didn't you ever want a brother?"

"No."

"Oh." Zoe folded her arms and frowned, watching the proceedings critically. "Well, I did!"

"You have a brother!" Josh burst out, glaring at her. Zoe turned back to him with an air of long-suffering.

"Well, I didn't have Mark."

Josh imitated her last statement childishly under his breath. Zoe rolled her eyes and walked away. He watched her go in silence, ignoring the twinge of guilt in his chest.

"Made any arrests yet?"

Josh turned, frowning in confusion as his father appeared beside him.

"What?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm glad somebody's guarding the buffet .." Jim's eyes twinkled. "But wouldn't you rather be out there enjoying yourself?"

"Oh." Josh folded his arms and fell back to watching the milling crowd. "I'm fine."

"Not very chivalrous of you." Jim remarked severely, nodding to a couple across the divide as Josh frowned once again. "It's obvious she needs rescuing and instead of helping her out, you're standing here being the buffet bulldog."

Josh followed his gaze over to where Tasha and an old man were engaged in polite conversation. He watched them for a moment. If he hadn't known her so well, it really wouldn't have been 'obvious' at all, but his father was right. There was a subtle air of agitation beneath Tasha's gracious manner.

"I suppose I could go over there."

"I'd say it's the least you could do." Jim put an arm around his son's shoulders. "Hey. Have I ever told you I'm proud of you?"

Josh glanced at him in surprise before turning away again.

"I'm not like you though. I'm not a soldier, I never will be."

"I know." Jim smiled. "That's part of the reason I am so proud of you."

He patted his son on the back and let his arm drop as Josh turned to look at him. Jim met his curious gaze.

"You didn't just go out and do what you thought I might have wanted you to do. You made up your own mind and stuck to your own decisions." He looked seriously into his son's face. "I'm not proud because you're like me. I'm proud because you're like you."

As Josh looked at the ground and smiled a little, Jim elbowed him.

"Now go on and save that poor girl."

Josh grinned and nodded.

"Thanks, Dad."

Jim smiled back.

"Hey, we guys have got to stick together, now more than ever. We just about outnumber the girls now, which means they'll put up twice as much of a fight. I want you on your best game."

Josh snorted, chuckling to himself as he set out in Tasha's direction.

"Roger that."

The party was in full swing by now. Taylor had stationed himself on the outskirts of the action, watching from a distance as the night wore on. With the amount of activity swirling around, he hadn't even noticed that someone had joined him until a tentative voice spoke up from a few metres away.

"Hey."

He turned to see Zoe sitting atop one of the now-empty tables, her legs swinging carelessly in mid-air. She was studying him with an unreadable expression.

"Hi."

He took a few steps closer and leaned back against the opposite end of the long table, following her gaze back towards the centre of the area, which several members of the security team had begun to clear out for dancing. After a few moments of silence, Zoe spoke up again.

"Daddy said you tried to hurt people because you were sick."

Taylor glanced at her.

"Did he now?"

Zoe turned to study him cautiously again.

"Are you better?"

Taylor thought for a few seconds and then shrugged, deciding the best course of action was simply to answer the girl's questions honestly.

"I'm working on it. I'm better than I was and I'll keep getting better every day."

Zoe seemed to be measuring up this statement against the evidence. Finally, she nodded carefully.

"Okay."

"Okay." Taylor repeated with a smile. When several more minutes had passed with no further attempt at conversation, he decided to try again.

"So how's school? You've grown up a lot since I last saw you. You must have done a lot of learnin' in that time."

"School's fine." Zoe responded in a small voice. Taylor frowned and studied her for a moment, taking a cautious step towards her.

"Zoe-"

The movement spurred the girl into action. Zoe leapt off the table and took a step back, standing with a hand on the end of it and staring at him with wide eyes. He had her full attention now, the rest of the party was forgotten. Taylor's frown deepened, the alarm in her eyes sending a stab of pain through his heart.

"Zoe .. what is it?"

"I'm .. I'm afraid of you." She answered truthfully, her eyes centred on the older man's crestfallen face. He didn't quite seem to know how to respond to such a simple admission. "How do I know you won't try to hurt people again?"

"He won't."

Zoe glanced around as the voice drew up beside her.

"Your dad won't let him." As she looked up at him, Lucas smiled a little. "He can't do anything without them finding out about it."

Zoe seemed somewhat reassured, but when she turned back to Taylor, a hint of fear remained.

"I still don't trust him."

"Aw, come on, nothing to be afraid of." Lucas put his hands on the girl's shoulders and locked eyes with his father. "Just picture him as a big old mountain goat. It's close enough to the truth after all."

Zoe laughed at this, turning quickly as a familiar hand grabbed her arm. Within the space of five seconds, she was disappearing rapidly as Leah dragged her off among the crowd in the direction of the newly-cleared dance floor. Taylor chuckled a little and turned back to Lucas quietly.

"Thanks."

The smile fell from Lucas' face as he shook his head and wandered away.

"I didn't do it for you."

It was almost more fun to judge the dancing than to join in, Skye chuckled to herself, as she watched Josh and Leah stumble around the outer ring, performing a rather disjointed attempt at a ballroom dance. Tasha, looking on from the other side, was in stitches, her eyes brimming with near hysterical tears as Boylan glided past elegantly with a red-haired woman. A few members of the security team were doing who-knows-what on the other side - some description of Greek dance that Skye wanted no part of. The Greeks would have been horrified to be associated with such an exhibition. She looked away quickly, deciding not to stare at them for fear of making eye contact and being sought after to participate.

Then the song changed, Jim handed Maddy back over to Mark and Boylan abandoned his former partner in favour of taking an exuberant turn around the dance floor with Vaughn. The Commander, however, seemed to be preoccupied as he left the circle. He was staring around with a frown and saying something to Elisabeth, who responded calmly. She gave a small shake of her head as Jim walked quickly away in another direction before turning back to watch the dancing again. What was that about?

Whatever it had been, it was quickly forgotten as a couple of the people on the left suddenly dropped like bowling pins. Skye stared in wonder as, among a series of sharp protests, a third person went down into the mix. When the confusion cleared a little, she was able to catch a glimpse of the culprit through the parting crowd. Curran was limping out of the arena, leaning heavily on Reilly. He winced with every step and if his ashen face gave any indication, he was in a fair bit of pain. They passed close by where Skye was sitting, heading in the direction of the Infirmary. Skye stared worriedly at the younger soldier. He really didn't look good.

"What happened?" She called out. Reilly seemed a little out of breath, but Curran stared mournfully over at her.

"Twisted my knee, silly idiot." It was unclear whether he was referring to Skye, himself, or indeed the knee in question, but Skye grimaced in sympathy.

"Ouch. You alright?"

"Will be." He called back. Reilly chuckled and paused to rest for a moment.

"Can't say the same for the poor citizens he took out with him."

Skye grinned as another member of the security team came to support his other side and they ventured off together to seek medical assistance, despite Curran's pleading protests that he was fine. She'd only just gone back to watching the dancing when a sharp voice rang out from her right. She frowned and turned to search for the owner of the voice, only to see Jim standing nearby with a dark expression on his face. He was addressing a young girl who looked decidedly unhappy to be there.

"Didn't I tell you not to wander off?" Jim's rebuke seemed to contain a note of panic mixed in with the frustration. "Stay with either Maddy, Mark, Josh, or your mother or me. Didn't I tell you that?"

"Yes." Zoe responded in a small voice, glancing around at the watching eyes in embarrassment. "But I only went-"

"There's no 'only went'." Jim interrupted, evidently not in an understanding mood. "You left the area I set out for you. You broke my trust and so as a result, you can stay right here beside me for the rest of the night."

Zoe's mouth dropped open, her cheeks flushed.

"But I-"

"Either that or we can just go home now if you like." Jim sighed wearily, running a hand through his hair. "We've had a big day and-"

"No!" Zoe burst out, clasping her hands together and staring up at him with pleading eyes. "I'll stay here, I promise. Just .. let's stay. Please."

Jim smiled and ruffled her hair gently.

"You really want to, huh?"

"Yes!"

".. alright. You win."

Skye turned to find Lucas beside her, grimacing a little in sympathy.

"Poor kid."

"I know, right? What's eating him?"

They watched as Jim and Zoe wandered away - to "rustle up some dessert", if the last part of the conversation was anything to go by. After a few moments of listening to the cheerful music, Skye suddenly looked up at Lucas with a grin.

"Want to dance?"

"Ah .. no." He responded firmly. Skye shrugged a little and fell back to watching again, only to yell someone's name a moment later. Lucas stared in dull silence as she ran off with Dunham to join the circle, leaving him behind to lean precariously on one of the foundation poles of the makeshift canopy. To add insult to injury, he turned a few seconds later to find Silas beside him.

"Ooh, sucks to be you, I guess."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. The soldier was holding a glass in either hand. Silas noticed the look and shrugged in defeat, gesturing to Lucas with the one that he'd just unsuccessfully attempted to give to a lady friend.

"Drink?"

Lucas stared at it suspiciously, wondering if it might be poisoned .. though, he reasoned with himself, at this particular moment, he didn't really care if it was. Silas grinned as he reached out and accepted the offering.

"Thanks."

"I saw it and thought of you."

"Sure you did."

After another hour or so, the night drew to a close and the clean-up began in earnest. The bride and groom attempted to offer their assistance in several different areas, but they were shooed away so forcefully that they finally surrendered, laughing as they walked off together down the street in the direction of their new house. The night was cool and pleasant, and they wandered along easily, discussing the events of the day and taking their time to reach their destination. When they finally arrived at their house, they paused for a moment to stare up at it as it stood, illuminated by the moonlight.

They opened the door and stepped inside, switching on the lights, and the yellow-tinted room glowed warmly to greet them. It had been one of the houses that was nearly destroyed in the flood catastrophe and, having been newly renovated, still smelled a little like paint. Right now, it was rather empty and foreign-feeling - despite the fact that one of the rooms was already beginning to drown under the weight of Maddy's research projects - but it was theirs. Maddy looked up at Mark happily. Her new husband smiled back and put his arm around her, and they walked in, side by side.

They were home.