Explanations

"Rachel?" Taylor said after many moments of silence. "What's going on?" Rachel just stared.

"Taylor…" she said monotonously.

"Please give her back." Taylor slowly got up from her place on the ground. "I want to go home. We can all just…go home." She stood still waiting for a response from the red head.

"No, Taylor. It doesn't work like that." Her voice was strong and emotionless. "Logan doesn't belong to you anymore."

A pang of something hit Taylor. "What do you mean: 'Logan doesn't belong to me'?" Rachel just gave her a sad look, and shook her head. Taylor stepped forward in anger. "Answer me Rachel! I want to know what is going on!" She stopped and stared at the red head and realized this was not the girl she knew and loved. "Who are you?" She asked slowly. She stepped closer to Rachel. "What do you want with us?"

The two men Taylor didn't know, who had been frighteningly silent through all of this, stepped forward for the first time. They weren't big and they weren't necessarily strong looking, but…

The blonde one took his chances with Taylor and went up to stop her from getting to Rachel. He grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her. It had gotten her to stop but now she just struggled against his awkward hold. "I just want answers!" She screamed.

Then the other men, Jack, Aaron, and Walt, came back to life at the sight of that also. Aaron sprang up and ripped the blonde man off of his wife. He twirled him around and punched him square in the face. The man stumbled backward at the shock of the blow but quickly recovered and hit Aaron back.

Walt surveyed the scene before him. It was like something you'd see out of a bad action movie. It looked like everyone was fighting someone different. It was a little chaotic.

He looked for Rachel and found her standing alone with Logan in her arms. The baby was screaming but she paid no attention. Walt had her figured out. She was a double agent for the others. Just like Ethan had been. He had been there when all of that happened and he decided Claire was lucky she got away. This wasn't going to be that easy. They were now dealing with a different generation. They were smarter, faster, and more determined, that was for sure. He knew it was bad.

Taylor was on the ground trying to get her head to stop spinning. And although she was failing miserably, she could still hear what was going on. No one was stopping her anymore; they had moved to more threatening things…like Aaron. She couldn't see that clearly but both the blonde man and the other man were trying to keep him on the ground. But Aaron was putting up too much of a fight.

Taylor stood up with jello-like legs and held her head while leaning against something; she was a little to out of it to figure out what, though. She couldn't find Walt or her father; her mind and vision were too hazy. Her eyes just kept moving, never settling on one place. She didn't know if she was looking for something in particular but the knew she'd know it when she saw it.

That's when a flash caught her eye. Her head turned lazily to see the source of the bright light. The cloud cleared at the sight, she could see and understand perfectly again, but she couldn't move.

Knife…knife…knife…the word registered again and again. 'MOVE!' She screamed at herself. 'MOVE! GOD DAMN IT!' She couldn't though. She couldn't blink, she couldn't swallow, and she couldn't talk or breathe. She just stood there leaning against whatever it was watching the scene play before. She knew what was going to happen if she didn't move.

Tears stung her eyes, her breath caught in her thought. Everything…life seemed to slow down. Her surroundings were all being warped into something she couldn't recognize and all she could see was the two men, Aaron, and the knife.

The blonde man didn't raise the weapon that high but still struck with enough blow to put a glazed over expression on Aaron's face. The pain he must have felt…

Taylor was still trapped in her time warp as she felt her chest contract. Now she really couldn't breathe. But just as her mind strayed from her own trauma the blonde stabbed Aaron again, only just inches above the original wound.

"NOOOO!" Taylor felt and heard herself scream at the top of her lungs. With the time warp still in play the blonde man turned to look at her. His green eyes burned into her skin, the burn of hate. But what had she done? If anybody had the right to hate anyone it should be her hating him, whoever he was, for trying to kill her husband.

She didn't know what happened next but it felt like time was catching up with itself because the next thing she knew she was down on her knees at Aaron's side. He was unconscious but bleeding and badly. She needed to do something, but at that moment every medical resource she had ever learned were in some file in her brain and she had temporarily lost the key. Now she was just sitting in the grass on the cliff watching her husband bleed. The tears hung on but once again, she didn't have time to cry.

She did the first thing she could think of and ripped off the bottom of his jeans and pressed it firmly against the bleeding holes on the lower right hand side of his abdomen.

It seemed like forever before her father jumped in to help her and Walt helped her stand up. Her white t-shirt was stained in heavy crimson, as well as splotches on her jeans and even a streak in her brilliantly blonde hair.

"What can we do?" She asked meekly.

"We have to get him back to the caves. I have real utensils there. Antibiotics to help him." He was almost speaking to himself.

"But the walk alone will take half a day!" She exclaimed.

"I'll make sure it doesn't take half a day." With that he slung Aaron over his shoulder and started to make his way down the drop of the cliff.

With a furrowed brow she watched him take Aaron. For the first time in her entire life, Taylor wanted to die. This was too much…loosing her child and loosing a husband with in two days of each other. In fact, if it weren't for Walt standing next to her, she'd probably sit down on top of that cliff and never get up again. She closed her eyes and exhaled, but she heard a baby cry.

Her eyes shot open and she whipped herself around to see if it was Logan. It wasn't Logan but just as good in some regards. It was Marie and she was holding a whimpering Bailey. She still looked sick.

"My god." She whispered to herself. "Marie." She rushed over to the woman and took her in a long, friendly embrace.

"I'm sorry." She half-whispered. She took a shaky breath. Taylor just looked at her. She was sorry. Sorry for what? She'd done nothing.

"Shhh…it's okay. You and Bailey are safe now." She hugged her friend again. "Let's go home. I'm sure Will is waiting for you."

000

They stopped to rest; because Marie was so weak she couldn't go the whole way without stopping.

So there they were, just the three of them and baby Bailey. Taylor tired to stay focused on getting home so she could be with Aaron. At least he was in good hands she had to tell herself.

"Marie." Walt broke the silence. "Marie…what did they do to you?" Walt who was usually so emotionless asked with uncharacteristic concern.

Marie just stared at the ground. She'd only been gone for a day and a half and she looked so…so weak. It broke Taylor's heart.

"Marie?" Walt asked again. There was a long pause before she looked at him with her glazed over eyes.

"I can't…I c-can't tell you. They'll come get Bailey." She told him in a fear-ridden tone. "They'll come for her…they'll take her from me." Tears rose in her eyes again.

"Just answer me this then." Taylor moved closer to her and squatted in front of her, Bailey sitting on her knee. "Did they hurt you, or the kids?"

Marie searched Taylor's eyes for a long time. Then she swallowed hard and sighed. "Yes."