A new start

Between sadness and anger, Alexandra had decided anger was the best choice. Maybe it was just the easiest but she didn't care anymore. She was bored being sad. With her emotions shut off, she felt better. But with no feelings, she had become careless. Some would say a little bit wild. But she didn't care what people would say anymore. She was fed up with Terra Nova. She found it boring here. And to make her bored, you should have to push it far. People always looked at her with pity. "Poor little thing, she lost her baby and her boyfriend ran away." When it was not pity, it was suspicion. "She slept with the traitor and got pregnant. Horrible girl, I feel sorry for her parents." Of course, they never said it to her, but she knew it and that was worst. It had been two weeks since she had left the infirmary but she was still on drugs. Dr Shannon had asked her to rest but Alexandra couldn't. She had decided she needed a night off and had gone to Boylan's. She wanted a drink, a strong one. She had been seated for only few minutes when a soldier came to talk to her.

"Helloooo," he warbled.

"Hello?" She frowned.

"So you are… hmm... the French girl aren't you?"

"That would be me." She forced a smile which looked like more like a grimace than a smile.

"See, I'm with my friends over there," he gestured to show her some obviously drunk guys. "And we were wondering if you'd like to join us." This soldier seemed as drunk as the others. Alexandra didn't want to go with them. She knew nothing good could come out of it. She was there to change the ideas, not to do one's head in. She had already had enough problems like that the last two weeks. She had been upset with Josh for the umpteenth time. Skye was avoiding her since she had accused her of being a kid. Tasha and Hunter had ended up going out together and they spent their days glued to each other. What she was missing was someone her age or older who was neither Jim, nor Taylor, nor Lucas. In fact, someone new to help her move forward.

"It's really nice of you but I'd rather stay alone tonight." She said gently but firmly. As he stayed in front of her, she added a thank you, hoping he would go away.

"Oh come on, why would a pretty girl like you would stay alone, huh? Don't be shy!" He was too close to her, she didn't like it at all.

"Thanks but no thanks," she replied coldly stopping herself from punching him.

"Aaaah my friends warned me French girls were cold and I didn't want to believe them," he sneered. "Come on! Prove them they're wrong!"

"She said she's not interested," a voice behind her said harshly. "So move on soldier."

The soldier seemed confused and tried to apologize before walking back to his friends. Alexandra turned to see her savior. She had seen him before with Taylor, but she didn't know his name. He was tall, had dark hair and dark blue eyes. His skin was lightly tanned.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm perfectly fine," she answered, trying to sound joyous.

"Well, you look like shit to me," he smirked.

"Do I?" She laughed, surprised by so much outspokenness. "Thank you for your honesty! Actually, I do feel I like that." He sat next to her.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked, a smile on his face showing bright white teeth. He was a good-looking man. Maybe in his 30's.

"My mother always told me not to accept a drink from a stranger," she quickly replied.

"And she was right! I forgot the most elementary rules of politeness, forgive me. I'm Damon, Damon Keagan. I'm a lieutenant here. I work with Commander Taylor, but I assume you already know that."

"I do. I saw you with him a few times."

"Can I buy you a drink now?"

"Don't you wanna know my name?"

"I already know who you are."

"Oh really?" she smiled.

"Alexandra Paris, born the 16 of June 1991 in Paris. No brother or sister. Parents were scientists, disappeared the 1st January 2005…"

"Ok, ok enough. I got it, you know my entire life. Understood." She didn't like it. He knew her whole life, she was sure of it. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why have you read my files?"

"I'm a soldier, I like to know where I'm going."

"Are you spying me?"

"Nope. Just wanted to know if you were old enough to drink so I could buy you one!" He gave her a bright proud smile. Alexandra thought he was handsome.

"Good one!" she chuckled, "Are you always doing such searches on the girls you try to date then?" She joked.

"No, only the pretty ones," he grinned. She grinned back at him, her cheeks flushing.

"It's gonna be a gin and tonic for me then!"

She spent the night talking to Damon. She enjoyed his company, he was funny and she hadn't laughed for a while. She even danced with him. He clearly flirted with her and she liked it. She felt desired, pretty and alive. After two drinks, she felt sick. The combination of the drugs and painkillers, plus the gin and tonic she had drunk, was not doing well on her. It was when Taylor arrived at the bar. Bad timing. When Taylor saw Alexandra drunk, he came to her and asked her to go back home. She didn't like the way he talked to her. The alcohol made her say things she knew she would regret the next day.

"I'm not coming with you," she hissed. "You're not my father and even if you were I'm old enough to decide what I wanna do."

"Alexandra Paris, if you do not follow me right now, I'll have to force you. Don't push me too far. If I have to carry you on my shoulders I'll do it." Her eyes widened in disbelief. Carry her? No way.

"I said no," she sulked, arms crossed.

"You don't leave me any other choice then," Taylor stepped closer to her to reach her. She spun to run away and ended behind Damon, hiding.

"Don't act like a stubborn child," she heard Taylor say. Damon put his hands in front of him in peace.

"Commander, if you allow me to, I will walk her back home." Alexandra froze while Taylor quickly deliberated.

"Lieutenant Keagan, I appreciate your offer. Do what you have to do to bring her safe back home. I'll talk with her later, when she's sober." Then he waved goodbye and walked out. Damon turned to face Alexandra.

"Let's go my lovely rebellious teen!" He mocked. He put his arm around her waist and pushed her towards the exit. Strangely, she didn't mind having his arm around her waist. On the way home, she felt so sick that she vomited. 'Nice' she thought, 'that's a really good way to seduce a guy'. However, Damon didn't seem to be annoyed or disgusted. He stayed next to her, keeping her hair out of her face, gently brushing her back.

"Next time I'll buy you some water," he chuckled. He helped her get inside her house. She didn't want to, but he insisted on walking her to her bed. He lay her on the bed, took her shoes off and put a blanket on her. Alexandra had fallen asleep the second she had been in the bed.

"Sleep well," he whispered before kissing her forehead.

The next day, Alexandra woke up with a huge hangover. She wasn't sure what happened last night but she did remember she had told Taylor to go away. She felt utterly stupid and ashamed. He was going to make her pay for that, one way or another. When she sat up, she had to urge to go to the toilets to throw up. God, she had to stop drinking! She felt disgusting. The shower helped her to feel better. With clean hair and body, and nice breath, she walked out into the sun. She had found sunglasses in the house and appreciated having taken them. She went discretely to the grove, not wanting to meet anyone, and lay down under a tree, her legs up on the trunk. It didn't take too long before she fell asleep.

"Hiding from the boss, are we?" a voice woke her up.

"Noooooo," she mumbled. "Just enjoying the peace before the storm."

Damon kneeled down next to her and gently pushed her sunglasses up.

"You don't look that bad!"

"Go away!" she smacked his hand. He laughed and walked away.

"Good luck with the storm," he chuckled. Taylor arrived not long after Damon's departure.

"Tired are we?"

Alexandra didn't move and kept her sunglasses on. She didn't want to be impolite but she felt safe hidden behind them. She pursed her lips, not sure what to say. She felt a tear running down her cheek. She cursed her body for letting her down so easily. She was tired and sad. Her anger had gone during the night. Taylor kneeled next to her and took her sunglasses off. He wasn't expecting what he saw. Actually, he wanted her to fight with him again so he could show her who was in charge here. But the guilt and sadness he could see on her face had caught him off guard.

"Alexandra…" He sighed, feeling suddenly sorry for her. "You need to talk to me. If not me, talk to somebody else but you have to say what you've got inside. Hatred, sadness, anger… Maybe all. You can't stay this way, you can't act like a wild animal all the time. People are worried about you." She slowly sat up, looking into Taylor's eyes.

"I know," she stated. She looked down to her hands. "I owe you an apology for last night. I know I acted like a spoiled child. I've felt horrible since… since Lucas abandoned me here. I feel like I'm burning inside, I'm broken, lost… But I want it to change, I want my life to get back on track."

"I'm really happy to hear it. And I accept your apology. If you want to stay here, you need to find a job, to earn money, so you are in charge of your life. I'll help you if you need me to."

"Actually, I thought about it. And if you're ok with it, I'd like to be one of your soldiers."

"Really? Don't you want to do something more… more girly?" Taylor was surprised. He knew Alexandra was tough. Though, she was a real girl in many ways. She chuckled.

"No sir, I want to fight for a good cause, I want to protect my home, I want to protect Terra Nova."

"Well, you look sure of what you want and I'm sure you could be useful."

"You won't regret it, I swear, you'll be proud of me."

"I already am," he said, his bright eyes looking deeply into hers.

"You're proud of me?" She asked in disbelief.

"You are a survivor Alex. You've been through a lot and you're still here fighting for what you believe in. You have principles and you keep to them. So yes, I'm proud of you Alex."

Alexandra sat up and embraced him. Taylor stiffened in surprise but quickly wrapped his arms around her. She felt comfort in his arms, feeling safe like she had not felt what seemed to be a long time.

The next day, Taylor brought Alexandra to the training session. She was surprisingly really good at it. Taylor didn't know she was that strong. She was fighting with another soldier and was going to win the fight.

"Do you think… Huh… 'he' taught her?" Jim asked, curious.

"My son is above all a scientist, not a soldier. Even if he knows how to fight, I don't think he trained her." Taylor answered, his gaze still on Alexandra. "I wonder where she learnt that," he murmured to himself.

"What do you reckon?" She asked proudly, panting. She had beaten the other soldier and was thrilled.

"Not bad," Taylor mocked. "Let's see how you shoot." Alexandra followed him to the shooting range.

"You see the targets out there? The goal is to target strategic points like the head or the heart. Go ahead and try."

Taylor did not show her how to do it. He wanted to test her. He looked at her arming the gun. She stood as a good soldier would have done and positioned her arms. She thought of some inspiration then held her breath to shoot. Everything happened very quickly and Taylor could not believe his eyes when he approached the target. Alexandra had shot it twice in the head and there were three bullets in the heart.

"Am I good enough to be part of your team now?" She beamed.

"Yes you are," Taylor replied, impressed. "You're more than good actually. How did you learn how to shoot like that?" He asked, suspicious.

"Hmmm… I guess I didn't know my own strength." Alexandra noticed Taylor's suspicious gaze. "Let just say that I'm a girl full of surprises!" She added.

Taylor noticed she had avoided answering his question but he didn't push her to tell him the truth. He knew it was her way of saying she didn't want to talk about it and he was ready to accept that as long as he could trust her. In the end, she would always tell him what she thought. Taylor was ready to be patient. He didn't want to fight with her like he did back at the infirmary.

"Lieutenant Keagan is going to be your partner."

"Damon?" She winced.

"Is it a problem for you?"

"No. Not at all. It's ok." She forced a smile. "Commander," she added when she saw his eyes narrowed, waiting for something.

"Good. Ask Mark Reynolds to show you where to find a uniform. You'll start tomorrow at 7. Don't be late."

Alexandra winced. She had not thought she would have to wake up early. She was not a morning person. However, she was not going to give up. She had found a new goal and she would keep working towards it.


Hmm… I wonder what Lucas would think about Alex being a soldier for his father… What about this guy, Damon. I bet he would not like him! Can't wait for your reviews!