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Dear Readers,

I AM SO SORRY. I haven't updated for like... TWO DAYS! I feel so bad! D: A family emergency came up and I didn't have time to update, but I'm going to try really hard to make it up to you! But I will probably have to slow down updates a little bit. I'm soooo sorry!D: Now forget about this pathetic excuse for an apology and get to the story!

~NumberSixteen

Skye, Mira, and Lucas made good time to the badlands. The rover was pulling in as the afternoon was setting into early evening. Lucas brought the rover to a stop when Mira commanded him to. They were outside of a medium sized make-shift tent. Mira commanded Lucas out of the vehicle, following behind him with Skye. She guided them into the tent where there was a cot, a light, and a bunch of tables littered with papers and research Lucas had left behind in the Sixers camp back before they'd taken over Terra Nova. Lucas went straight to one of the tables and lifted up the papers, his brow was furrowed in frustration.

"What is it you want me to do exactly?" Lucas asked begrudgingly.

Mira glared at him for a few moments. "Form another portal to 2149."

Lucas laughed a breathy laugh before turning to her, a hard look on his face. His eyes flickered with bemusement. "There isn't another portal to the future, Mira."

She didn't respond but just continued to give him a hard stare.

Lucas met her gaze for a minute before turning and moving around the table where he sifted through the papers warily. Skye was silent as Mira and herself watched him as he looked at his life's work on the table. He turned back up to Mira and shrugged. "There is no way we can ever get another portal from here to 2149. There is a possibility that they can make a portal to us, but the people in the future are stupid and the likelihood of that is extrememly small. So I have done what you have asked me to do. Now if you will just hand Bucket over, we will be on our merry way." Lucas's voice practically dripped with sarcasm and irritation.

Mira let out a huff of frustration but she held Skye's arm roughly, jerking her with every movement. Skye shifted uncomfortably as she spoke. "We found evidence of another possible civilization, have we not?"

Lucas shrugged. "We don't have the resources to find it. Terra Nova is the only place that can provide plausible support for us to go searching for another civilization."

Mira cocked her head slightly, "Then we take back Terra Nova."

Lucas passed a hand over his face, a smirk playing on his lips. "Ah, but that is easier said than done. They will be expecting us, and this time we won't have the drop on them. It will be much more difficult than it was when we first brought our people through the portal." At this, Skye stood a little taller, a smug smile daring to pull at her lips and she had to force it away before Mira noticed.

Mira just glared and spoke harshly, her voice low and deceptive. "We can do it. We've done it before, we will do it again. We know the weaknesses in Terra Nova. And I'll even give you the pleasure of shooting Taylor yourself."

This got Lucas's undivided attention. He couldn't resist the topic. His eyes shot up to meet hers and she seemed to tower slightly over his hunched figure by the table. He dropped the papers he was holding and stood up straight. "Really?" His voice was etched with uncertainty.

Mira shrugged, making Skye have to shift as she struggled to stay on her feet by her awkward stance that Mira held her in. "A promise is a promise here, isn't it?"

Lucas searched her features for a few moments. "Well if we took back Terra Nova, yes there is a possibility of having the viable resources to go in search of the other, possible," Lucas provided emphasis on the word, "Civilization. They might have a portal, but the odds are unlikely. We found a stern to a ship in the middle of these badlands. It's completely dry here, so the time that that has been here can be widely disputed. It's in considerably good shape, but the wood it is made from is strong. Who knows where they could be and how long ago they were here. And we still don't even know how real they actually are. There are many possible explainations as to finding this here. So don't get your hopes up, Mira. Things change quickly." Lucas sat down in one of the few chairs scattered unevenly around the room. He waited for Mira's reaction but he only looked at Skye.

She met his gaze for a few moments before she was jerked off balance by Mira. She stumbled a little but managed to recover quickly and stand up. She looked up at Mira as she opened her mouth to speak.

"We are taking back Terra Nova. Once we do that, we will begin to search for this other civilization. And we will find them." Mira shoved Skye away and out the tent where she closely followed. Lucas watched her go with a worried look in his eye. He was concerned for her, no doubt, but he had to keep working to keep her alive. Only, he had to work on the things that made her hate him more. He let out a quiet frustrated growl before beginning to sift through his work again. Some he remembered writing, scribbling down half-mindedly as his mind worked incesently to figure out how to make the portal go both ways. So much work, so many errors had been made. And once he had it perfect, it was sabatoged by the one and only person he was fighting to save. He recalled a few of the memories, a quiet chuckle escaping from his lips. They'd stabbed eachother in the back enough times to last a lifetime and yet here they were again, placing trust in eachother. Concern for her struck him. Where were they taking her and what did they plan on doing to her? His heart thudded in his chest for a few minutes as he recalled some of the torture objects that the Pheonix Group had. He'd even used one himself on Jim Shannon. They'd want information out of her on how to destruct Terra Nova. He knew she'd never speak and just endure the pain, but guilt hit him like a bat. She was suffering for him, staying alive so he could save her and he knew that she knew they wouldn't kill her to keep him working. The whole set up was complex and his brilliant mind worked through each thing, categorizing it and filing it away for later analysis.

He began to stack papers, organizing them into somewhat messy piles. He never was an organized person but he tried to on occasion. He finally got frustrated and just created a big pile where all his papers had been mushed together into one large pile. He nodded truimphantly before dusting off his hands and deciding to go outside and see if he could see any signs of Skye. He stepped out of his tent and looked around. Pheonix group soldiers mulled around together, talking or doing something that was hardly productive. Lucas just searched the entire camp. His highly observant eyes spotted Mira emerging from an cave lodged into one of the bare rock hills. She spoke to the guard for a minute or so before the guard nodded and she continued off. His eyes followed her as she made her way to the largest tent of them all. He rolled his eyes. Of course, Mira was in complete control. He should have come back sooner instead of bother himself with Skye. Maybe by now he'd be much further in his research and he didn't have to work as fast as they want him to.

He rubbed his forehead as his eyew wandered back to the cave. He was guessing that that is where they are holding Skye. He examined the entrance to notice that it wasn't heavily guarded. He knew that inside that cave, there were mulitple tunnels. The tunnels had little caverns at the ends of them, and he could only guess which one Skye was being held in. He knew that Mira had told the guards at the door that he was forbidden entrance, so he huffed a sigh. Tomorrow he would talk to her when she got her five minutes and try to get as much information as he could without causing trouble for himself and for Bucket. He nodded to himself and he felt his himself get slightly excited at the thought of seeing her. Smelling her fruity scent, touching her soft bouncy hair, feeling her smooth skin. He almost couldn't wait.

Josh was in his room, yanking out a backpack and starting to stuff whatever he pulled out of his drawers inside of it. He grumbled to himself determinedly and her turned to grab some things from behind him. He hadn't even noticed that Maddy was standing in the doorway. Her arms were crossed as she watched him.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her tone was knowing but also annoyed.

Josh rolled his eyes, "You know exactly what I'm doing."

Maddy gave him a hard stare as he pulled more things from his drawer. "Look Josh, I know you're worried about Skye but think about it a little."

Josh stopped and glared at his sister. "Frankly Maddy, I think that you think way too much already."

Maddy rolled her eyes and forced back an insult. "Remember the time you were OTG with her and those friends of hers?"

Josh didn't reply but cast his eyes downward as he continued packing. Maddy noticed his discomfort and pressed forward. "Remember how you almost died? Yeah well, this is kind of the same thing, Josh. If you go out there by yourself you could die. It's been days. You'll never find them." Maddy took a step forward. He'd stopped packing his clothes while she was speaking. "If you die out there, who is she going to have to come home to? Nobody. You have to stay alive and hopeful for her. You're doing the right thing for her. And if you do go out there and find them, Lucas won't hesitate to kill her. You know that, don't you?"

Josh let out a staggered breath as her hand fell on her shoulder. He fought back his own tears. He refused to show weakness, even in front of his sister. She smiled softly at him. "Do this for Skye, Josh. She's what is important here, right?"

Josh nodded as Maddy continued. "Then be there for her in your own way. She'll need you when she comes back, so don't do this because odds to ends are, one of you will end up dead."

Josh took in the words. Maddy always knew the right thing to say when he needed it. She really was quite a good sister and he was lucky to have her. He was sad she was getting married, especially at her age, but he knew he could trust her in Mark's hands. He was happy he had her.

He looked up and met her brown eyes, they were filled with concern. He nodded at her, swallowing thickly. She smiled and pulled him into her arms. "You're a good brother, Josh."

He hugged his sister back, "And you're an even greater sister. Thanks Maddy." He pulled away, "You know, for not letting me kill myself."

Maddy laughed with him. She then left him in his room to unpack. He was so grateful for her, and he would definitely miss her when she moved out to go live with Mark. He smiled at his now closed door she'd shut on her way out. He slowly put away his clothes before flopping on his bed and thinking about what his sister had said. He knew she was right, but he wanted to find Skye so badly. She could be dead, for all he knew. But he will do what his sister had told him he needed to do. And that was hope.

Skye was yanked through the mouth of the cave. The ground was dusty under her feet, dirtying her boots and legs. Mira hauled her through the tunnel, practically dragging Skye through the dirt.

"I can walk on my own, you know." Skye growled.

Mira didn't even look at her as she continued to take her through the tunnels of the cave. She took one of the many left options, taking her down to the cavern at the end. Metal bars had been put up to block entrance or exit by anyone. Mira asked the posted guard at the end of the tunnel to unlock it. He jogged the hundred yards or so toward them, unlocking the door and swinging it open. Mira threw Skye down on the ground inside and the guard slammed the door shut again. Skye leapt to her feet and ran to the door, clinging onto the bars.

"You disgust me." Skye spat.

"As do you," Mira rolled her eyes and walked away, followed by the guard. Skye watched them disappear, and once out of sight, she began to examine the entire enclosure. She looked for any flaw that could help her out of this cage when the time was right. But there was nothing. The jagged rock behind her provided no plausible escape and none of the iron bars were far enough apart for her the slip between them. Tears suddenly flooded her eyes. She had no idea why, but she broke out into a fit of sobs. She took shaky breaths as she suddenly felt small and trapped. She was the mouse and Mira was the cat. If she was the mouse, what does that make Lucas?

The thought occured to her, and she forced the tears to stop. What would Lucas be? There is only two characters in cat and mouse. There cannot be a third, can there? The thought taunted her. She bit her lip unsurely as she continued to think about what Lucas could be considered. There were numbers of possibilities but one stood out to her most.

Lucas was the game changer.

Bleh. The Skye part kinda was short and sucky, but I got my point across. :) So, you guys have been reminding me about how I have to have Lucas tell Skye what he thinks about her. Oh, it's coming:) I was just saving it until later in the story. It has it's own special place in the story:D haha So I hope you guys liked it:) It's longer than the last few chapters. I tried realllllly hard to make it longer, but I can only make a chapter so long before I'm getting repeatitive. It is three thousand words though, and for that I am proud:) I never write chapters that long! YAY! I feel very accomplished. I hope you like it! And I wanted to end the chapter with that line, so I can't continue. D: I promise I'll update as soon as I can, mmkay? I apologize again for my super late update. I just have stuff I have to take care of right now. Plus, school starts back up on Monday. -gag- So updates will be getting less frequent, but I will post as soon as possible:) I love you people. Thank you for staying with me:) Leave a review okay? And it might motivate me to write a teeny bit faster:D Love you guys!

~NumberSixteen