Going For It

Taylor was so tired. It had been a week since Logan was taken and Aaron still wasn't awake. She hadn't gotten much sleep but instead had perfected her 'speaking to the partially dead' skills. She had gotten very good over the past few days strictly because that's all she did was talk.

Today was no different. She sat in her spot next to Aaron stroking his hand and speaking softly to him; mainly whispering sweet nothings in his ear or promises that if he'd just wake up she'd do something…each time it was something different.

She had been alone for most of the day, except for the company of her spouse, when Jack sat down beside her.

"Doing okay Monkey?" He asked her tenderly.

She nodded. "I think so." She inhaled deeply causing her sore back to pop. "I just want him to wake up." She admitted.

Her father looked away. He felt terrible. "You know he isn't getting any better." He said stating a fact more than a general piece of conversation.

Taylor just nodded as deep sadness settled in the pit of her stomach.

000

Darkness surrounded the camp at the caves. Everyone was settling down for the night…except for Taylor. She ran a hand over her face and through her hair to keep herself awake. She was deep in thought.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked the man lying in front of her. "Are you testing me? Trying to see how long I'll stay here before I go completely insane?" She whispered everything harshly. Over the last few days her outlook had changed drastically. She was loosing her husband and she'd already lost her daughter…what else did she have to live for? "You don't know how lucky you are." She bit the inside of her lip as tears swelled up in her eyes for the umpteenth time since the incident.

She thought for a moment. What if that was the reason Aaron didn't want to wake up? He had nothing to live for. Taylor was a complete mess and his family was falling apart.

Taylor looked at Aaron's 'sleeping' form. "I need to take a walk." She stated flatly. And she got up from her spot beside him and made her way into the jungle.

000

The sun was starting to rise, and Taylor could just barely see the pink lighting through the treetops. She just kept wandering aimlessly all night and now she was lost. For some reason she didn't care. Maybe it was better this way. What if she just sat down and fell asleep? What is she never woke up from that sleep? Would it be better?

"No." She said to herself sternly. There was no room for thinking like that. But she was tired so she finally sat down and propped herself up against a tree. Her eyes closed momentarily before she heard something.

She opened eyes lazily to see Rachel standing in front of her along with about six other people. The haze went away and Taylor found herself very alert all-of-the-sudden. She scrambled to sit upright against the tree as a scruffy looking man stepped in front of Rachel, who held a bundle of something in her arms.

"What do you want?" She whispered to them. None of them answered. "What do you want?" She asked a little harsher and a little louder.

The man bent down on his knees and spoke to her in a very frank manner. "Listen Taylor…we know you're upset." He spoke in a very country accent.

'Upset…' she thought. 'Upset doesn't even begin to describe the way I feel about everything.' She listened still, holding her tongue.

"It must be hard for you and I just wanted to let you know…we are sorry." He nodded and then got up. He stood staring at her shocked face.

"Sorry." She said to herself, loud enough for the others to hear. She nodded. "Sorry. Sorry! SORRY!" She screamed. " You're sorry? You take my daughter, my own flesh and blood away from me, and all you can say is 'sorry'? Well, I'm telling you now 'sorry' doesn't cut it." She said in a calloused tone her voice breaking as she spoke.

"Yeah. It probably doesn't do much good in your case but…at least I can say we tried." He turned to leave when Taylor grabbed his arm.

"No. You're not leaving. Not with her." She looked seriously at the man and then nodded towards the infant in Rachel's arms. He looked towards her and shook his head.

"Like I said, I'm sorry but she's ours now. You can't have her. Now, let go of me." Taylor's icy cold glare cut through him like knives, and her grip on his forearm tightened.

"You're making a mistake." Then he brought his other fisted hand up to the side of her face with surprising force. Taylor released her hold on the man and stumbled backward, falling onto her knees hold the left side of her face.

The group of people who had been standing still, watching the serious of events take place, all turned and started to leave. Taylor watched them with tear filled eyes. She couldn't just watch them leave again.

"Rachel." She called out. Her friend would listen to her wouldn't she? The red head turned at her name. "Rachel, please listen. That little person you have in arms is mine." Taylor's voice trembled. "No matter what you do to her, she'll always be mine and you can take her as far away as you possibly can but she'll still be with me."

Rachel's face of stone began to soften at Taylor's words. She looked down at the baby girl in her arms. She had been appointed 'mother' to the child and was beginning to love her as a daughter. Rachel thought for a moment then looked back at Taylor, who was beginning to cry.

"What do you want with her?" She said shaking her head as the tears started falling down her cheeks. "What can she do for you? She's a two…weeks…old." Taylor looked at the pretty, young double agent 'other' with pleading eyes. "What can she give that I can't?" Taylor stood up and held out her arms and looked across them and then surveyed the rest of her own body. "I'm able, I'm strong…I can work if you want me too." She took a shaky breath as another tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm loosing my husband." She looked down at her feet. "I'm not going to loose Logan again too." She looked back up with tear filled eyes. "Please." She whispered out of sheer desperation.

Rachel looked at her with sympathy. Her head fell as her own tears collected on her cheeks. This…thing…this little person she held in her arms was the only thing Taylor wanted. Rachel had no idea what the head what the head 'other's' wanted with this child. Taylor had a good point… 'What could she do for them?' She looked back at Taylor with those sorrow filled eyes of hers and hand her the blanket she held.

Taylor sighed in happiness and let a half-laugh escape her lips. She laid the blanket out over her arms and approached Rachel so she could lay Logan down in her arms.

Rachel lifted Logan's head up and she stirred in her sleep as she transferred the child from her arms to her mothers'. She watched as the baby settled back to sleep in her rightful place in Taylor's arms. She smiled as more tears came.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Came from the scruffy man's mouth. She turned to him and held a finger to her lips.

"I know what I'm doing." Then she turned back to Taylor. She stared at her for a good amount of time. "You really are who they said you were. You are the one…the first one to ever get what you wanted from us. Consider yourself lucky." She looked back to Logan and ran a hand over her soft bald head. "Take care of her. She's very special." Taylor smiled at her friend and nodded in response.

It was then that Rachel re-joined her group. Taylor smiled and gazed upon the sleeping child in her own arms. She closed her eyes and mouthed with words 'thank you' to an unknown source as she felt Logan's body heat against her for the first time in too long. She opened her eyes to see that Rachel and the other 'others' were gone. A strange feeling swept over her, and then she remembered what both Danielle and the other woman had told her.

You are the one.

And now Rachel had just told her the same thing. What was in that is so special about her? What did Rachel mean by she was the first one to ever get what she wanted from the others? She still didn't understand and maybe she never would but she didn't care because Logan was back. She had her…she could feel her…look at her. This overwhelming feeling came over her and she started to cry…one last time. She wept openly over this little piece of person who meant so much to her and she had only been in existence for two short weeks.

She never would understand certain things but Taylor did understand this…nothing stranger or more horrible could happen to her after these past few weeks. Stranger things haven't happened. That's all there was to it.