OMG. It has been a month already since chapter 76! So sorry, I was on holidays. Here is chapter 77! Terra Nova, here we come!
Infinite
When Lucas walked out of the portal, the healthy and light air of Terra Nova was like a cold slap in his face. The mass of oxygen, that his body was not used to anymore, made him dizzy. But his survival instinct kept him from falling down.
"Are you alright?" Damon asked eagerly.
"Yeah."
"Let's go then," Damon hurried him.
"No, we have to wait for the cure."
"What?"
"We have to wait for Sean."
"You don't have the cure? Why?"
"It needed to be tested on her blood. We had to wait for her to be infected."
"This is so…"
"Shut up, Damon! I know what I'm doing, okay?"
Damon tightened his jaw in frustration, his eyes burning with irritation.
"How long?"
"Five minutes."
Lucas stayed motionless while staring at the empty space in front of him, waiting for the third portal to open, while Damon was pacing annoyingly behind him, grumbling. Minutes were passing by slower than Lucas and Damon wished them to go. Five minutes seemed like an eternity before, finally, a crack in the air broke the silence that had fallen over them and a blue circle appeared where Lucas had planned for the portal to open. Both of them held their guns in its direction, ready to shoot if needed. Surprise overcame them when, where they were expecting to see Sean, a non confident woman appeared, a rounded mass under her coat.
"Don't move! Put your hands up!" They both shouted.
The scared woman looked afraid but didn't hold her hands in the air. At the opposite, she kept her arms protectively around her body with difficulty. She was obviously struggling to stay still.
"Are you Lucas Taylor?" She blurted out.
"Who are you?" Lucas interrogated her.
"Are you Lucas Taylor? Yes or no?" She almost screamed.
"Who the hell are you?" Lucas insisted.
"I'm Hannah. Hannah Harris. I'm Sean's wife."
Lucas made a strange face and glanced at Damon who was still staring at the form under her coat.
"What's under your vest?" Damon inquired firmly, his gun still pointed in her direction.
"I… Are you… Wait! It's not what you think," she suddenly defended herself, understanding the confusion she had created. "It's not a bomb!"
"Open it, slowly," Lucas commanded her, his rifle's sight locked on her.
Shakily, the woman reached for the buttons and undid them. Lucas and Damon froze when they saw what she was protecting. Tied around a big rounded belly, were 15 tubes with a light blue liquid inside.
"You're pregnant?" Lucas wondered aloud, more to himself than to her. Because it was obvious she was not long away from the term.
"I am. Are you Lucas?"
"I am."
"Are those flasks the cure?" Damon questioned bluntly.
"Yes."
"Can you walk?" He asked quickly.
"I think so."
"Follow us," he continued roughly.
She looked at Lucas who was still staring at her belly. Hannah was not sure if his eyes were on her belly or the tubes, but his face reflected annoyance. Or was it surprise? She didn't wait for an answer and started to walk to the rhino that was waiting for them. Once they were all inside, Damon turned on the engine and drove quickly to the colony. Lucas' eyebrows were furrowed tightly as his mind was racing.
"Sean gave me this," Hannah started to say, looking for something in her pocket. "There."
Lucas took the folded paper while his eyes darted once again to the woman's body, before starting to read the message Sean had written for him.
"Lucas,
Here is the cure I promised to bring to you. I've respected our deal and let Alexandra be exposed to the radiation. I tested it and it's working. I did my part of the job. Now it's your turn.
I know I said I would come with the cure so you would let me have a second chance in Terra Nova. But it's not the deal I made with Alex. I couldn't leave Hannah behind. I gave her the cure so the one you love will survive. Now, it's your turn to do me a favor. Take care of Hannah. I think you can do this for me. I know it's what you would have done for Alex.
You asked me to trust you. I do. Don't deceive me.
Sean.
PS: Charles is looking for you. But I did one of my favorite nerd things you love so much. I hacked the last portal. He thinks he's just behind Hannah, but he and his army will arrive in 100 days. That's all I could delay. Prepare your people. There is war coming."
Lucas remained lost in his thoughts the whole way back. Damon glanced at him many times, worried.
"Is there a problem? Is there a problem with the cure? Lucas!"
Hannah was starting to worry too as she had no idea what her husband had written on the paper.
"He said that she needs to take one flask everyday for 15 days," Hannah explained. "He said you need to inject the liquid directly into her veins."
"I know," Lucas answered simply.
At one point, Lucas eventually grabbed his walkie-talkie and turned it on.
"Mark? Mark, if you're there, pick up the bloody…"
A crack cut him off in his sentence.
"You don't need to be such an ass," Mark joked.
"I have the cure with me," Lucas said bluntly. "Go and tell Elisabeth we'll be there in less than five minutes."
"I'm gone," Mark said in a very serious tone.
"Mark!"
"Yeah?"
"There's a pregnant woman with us. Ask the nurses to be there too."
"O-Okay," Mark replied, surprised. He wanted to ask where the hell Lucas had found a pregnant woman on his way but knew he had no time for that.
Hannah gave him a grateful smile, even if he didn't look at her. She believed that he was kinder than he looked.
When the rhino arrived near the colony, the gate was open. They quickly entered the colony where Elisabeth and a few nurses were waiting for them. And so were Taylor and Mark.
"Gimme your belt," Lucas ordered Hannah once the car had stopped. She obediently detached it and gave it to him.
"Good luck," she murmured.
Lucas wanted to tell her that luck had nothing to do with science. He wanted to tell her that Sean had been utterly stupid to let her come. He wanted to tell her so many horrible things. But, strangely, he couldn't. Something in what Sean had written was stopping him. Something about his deal with Alexandra. His deal with her, not him.
Lucas gave the medicine to Elisabeth and rushed with her to the infirmary, explaining the method on their way, while the nurses were helping Hannah to walk out of the car.
"Lieutenant?" Taylor inquired.
"He has the cure," Damon answered. "How's Alex?"
"Still in coma. But the fever has been stabilized."
Damon nodded, his lips tightly pressed together.
"She's gonna survive," Taylor affirmed, his hand squeezing his shoulder in a fatherly way.
"She better," Damon said before heading to the infirmary too.
Once in Alexandra's bedroom, Elisabeth injected the liquid into her arm almost immediately. In vain, she had hoped it would do something. She knew it couldn't be that rapid, yet she wished it was. She had never wanted a medicine to work so much.
"Okay… Now, I guess… We'll just have to wait and see," she sighed.
"How is she doing?" Damon asked eagerly when he rejoined them.
"The first injection is done. One per day. Fifteen days to wait for. We'll have to be patient."
"Patient…" Lucas repeated blankly, his gaze lost once again far beyond Alexandra's immobile body. He sat next to her bed, his hands reaching for hers. She seemed so fragile, it was hurting him.
"I would follow you to the end of the earth. So you better come back soon. Because I won't quit until you wake up. I won't," he murmured forcefully to her ear.
It took three days before Alexandra's body showed amelioration and her fever broke completely. On the fourth day, her hand moved into Lucas' one. Then, miraculously, she seemed to wake up on the seventh day. Her eyes fluttered open and a huge beam appeared on Lucas' face, his green eyes lightening in joy.
"Hello you," he murmured with a smile. "How do you feel?"
She put both her hands on his cheeks and smiled sadly.
"You're here..."
"You sound surprised," he smiled lightly.
She didn't answer but started crying in silence instead, grimacing like she was suffering.
"Hey, sweetheart! Why are you crying? Are you in pain?"
"I'm so sorry..." She shook her head, crying even more.
"Darling, it's okay."
"No, it's not. You're dead and it's my fault," she whined.
"Dead? I'm not dead!"
"Are we all dead?" She continued as tears flooded along her cheeks. "Did they all die?"
"Honey, we ain't dead. You're at the infirmary. You're alive."
"But I… You…"
"It's Terra Nova. It's home."
"I died… And then…"
"Alex, I'm here, for real. You're here with me. Alive."
Lucas could see how lost she was but couldn't help her realize she was not in a kind of nightmare.
"I feel so... so, " she shut her eyes but continued crying, her breathing quickening.
The beep of her heart rate monitor started to accelerate. Lucas turned his head to the open door for help.
"Dr. Shannon! Dr. Shannon, she's incoherent! Something's wrong."
Elisabeth arrived almost immediately. She was never really far from Alexandra, always checking on her.
"Let me see," Elisabeth said, verifying her medical plex. "No, she's fine. The fever is down. What happened?"
"She was awake and then, then she was acting like… She thinks we're all dead."
"Lucas, I told you that coming back from a coma takes time. I guess she's having day nightmares. She's in between. Not sleeping, but not really awake. But she's fine. And, it's a good sign. Her brain is not damaged and she's not in a coma anymore. Give her more time, the antidote needs two weeks before she shows real amelioration."
Lucas wanted the usual light in her eyes to come back. He had never thought he could miss her talking that much. And now, the only words that had come out of her mouth were close to sheer madness.
Lucas spent the rest of the day watching her, hoping she would wake up again. But nothing happened. She still mumbled inaudible things and moaned in pain, but she didn't wake up. Neither did she the day after that.
Taylor, like everyone else, used to come to check on her and on Lucas every day. It saddened him to see his son suffering like he was. But he was hopeful as Dr. Shannon had informed him that Alexandra was doing better. Taylor remembered his talk with his son the night he had come back.
"Son, you know you should have told me, right?"
"And what would you have told me? Huh? Don't do it?" He had answered with a smile.
"Do you really think I don't know you? I was sure you would do it. With or without my permission."
"Father, I know you as well. I was certain you wouldn't let me go. So why bother asking or talking about it?"
Lucas. His son. He always had the last word. And as annoying as this could be, Taylor couldn't be more proud of him. He was stronger than the boy he had banished many years before. He had become a man. Someone people could trust. Someone people could rely on. Someone people could respect. Of course, Taylor was not that blind. He also knew his son was arrogant, undisciplined, and the first to break the rules. Yet, he had become a good man. And Ayani would be proud of him. He was certain.
During Alexandra's coma, Taylor, Jim and Damon had worked hard on figuring out every piece of information Hannah had given them. They had discussed with Lucas, but he was not really inclined to talk as long as Alexandra was not awake. And anyway, he used to cut off every conversation with: "We have plenty of time to organize our defense". Lucas was right, Sean had managed to give them more time to prepare themselves. Yet, 100 days were not that much and they needed to think about a strategy.
All Taylor was hoping was that Alexandra would wake up soon, so Lucas could be himself again. And the sooner, the better.
On the tenth day, Alexandra seemed to fully awaken from her trance. This time, Lucas didn't jump in excitement. He was very careful. He didn't want to be disappointed again.
"What am I… I…", she tried to express a question, her hands reaching for her head as the pain seemed to linger.
"Just take it easy, Love. Drugs are still wearing off."
She tried to swallow but her mouth was dry. With no need to ask aloud, Lucas was there, holding a glass of water for her. She sipped the water slowly, collecting her thoughts.
"What did you do Lucas?" She whispered her eyes half shut.
"I did what I do the best, I did a genius thing!" He smiled, happy to hear her talking normally.
"Boaster," she said in a croaky voice. His grin widened. She was back.
"How are you feeling?" Lucas asked her, his hand still holding hers.
"Alive," she replied groggily.
"Don't you ever do that again," Lucas scolded her gently.
He was just so relieved that she was alive, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to forgive her the scare she had put him through. He had really thought that she was going to leave him again. And waiting for ten days before being able to talk to her again had made him think a lot about the situation, about her decisions, about his decisions. Not including the weeks when he had seen her but not spoken to her. For weeks he got to observe her, to see her evolution, but he could not approach her, touch her, comfort her. They were the hardest weeks of his life. He had realized he needed her too much to let her do whatever she wanted to. He would restrain her if he had to. He would not risk losing her again. And he would do whatever he had to to protect her.
"Yes," she promised.
"Good."
"You were worried," she murmured, managing a weak smile.
"Of course I was! No one's here to pollute my air with chatty talks all the time," he teased.
"Liar…"
"Yeah… My life would suck without you in it," he admitted before placing a deep kiss on her forehead. "I missed you."
"Lucas," she murmured.
"Yes?"
"I feel tired…"
"You need to rest."
"Hmmm-Hmmm," she nodded, already asleep.
"I'll come back later."
"Lucas?" She suddenly call, fully awake.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry, Lucas. I'm truly sorry."
"What for?"
"I know how much I hurt you by giving up so easily. I promise you it won't happen again, never. I'll be stronger."
"I know you're strong. You even showed strength I didn't know you were capable of. Honestly Alex, you're the strongest person I have ever met in my life. I swear to you, you couldn't disappoint me even if you tried."
"You told me to hold on and I wasn't strong enough to do it. But you were persuaded you could do it and you did it. I will never be able to thank you enough for that. You were there when I needed you the most and…" Her voice dropped at the realization of what would have happened if he had failed, what it would have meant. She would have died and Lucas would have felt guilty for all of eternity.
"That's what love is all about, isn't it?"
"Lucas, I need to apologize because I'm really sorry. I have not been supportive. I didn't trust you enough and… I let you down when you needed me. I gave up. I gave up on you. I mean, I was so weary, broken. I wanted to die. I wish I could say it was the radioactivity talking but it was not. I… It's just… I didn't want to trust you and I'm really sorry I caused you pain."
Lucas could see how much sorry she was and his previous anger about her decisions dropped dead. He loved her too much to stay irritated with her.
"You have supported me since we first met. You carried us all the way, you helped me, you were there for me even when I wanted you to go away. I think it's fair enough I help you now. You can't always be strong for both of us. It was my time, that's all."
"I'm so proud of you," she whispered, a tear at the corner of her eyes threatening to fall down.
"You are the best thing that has ever been mine. I won't ruin everything."
This time, she could not stop the tear from falling down. Neither could she stop the many tears that followed. Lucas delicately put his hands around her face and wiped her wet cheeks with his thumbs.
"Courage is not having the strength to go on. It is going on when you don't have the strength. It's what Theodore Roosevelt said."
"Since when are you quoting dead presidents?" She chuckled between two sobs.
"I had some spare time lately," he joked.
She chuckled tiredly and grinned.
"I'm gonna sleep now, I think."
"Sleep well love."
"You'll stay here?" She murmured in a whisper.
"I don't have anywhere else to go."
Alexandra didn't wake up until midnight. When her eyes opened, Hannah was standing next to her, smiling warmly.
"Hannah," Alexandra smiled sleepily, holding her hand to her rounded belly. "You're here."
"Yeah," Hannah smiled in return. "Thanks to you. Thanks to Lucas."
"That's great," she whispered. "Baby's alright?" She mumbled, fighting to stay awake.
"Yeah, he's fine. How are you feeling?"
"Good, I think. Tired, a bit."
"I really don't see why," Hannah mocked.
"Me neither… Where's Sean?" She suddenly seemed to remember she had not seen him yet.
"He's not here," Hannah replied with sadness.
"Is he…"
"No!," she said vigorously. "I hope not… He gave me his place to come here. I brought the cure with me."
"I'm sure he's fine. I'm sure he'll find a way to come back to you," Alexandra promised forcefully, her eyes very serious.
"You're right," Hannah nodded.
"Alex? Right? That would be a first," Lucas interrupted them with a smirk.
"Shut up!" They both cut him off. Alexandra smiled at Hannah. She had learned to love the woman and had found out how similar they were. Hannah had a strong personality, but she was generous, kind, and optimistic. She was really happy that she was here and that she would deliver her baby in good conditions.
"You're very aggressive," Lucas teased.
"And you haven't seen anything yet," Hannah grinned. "Alex, I'll come back later to see you."
"Take care."
"You too."
Lucas waited for Hannah to leave the room before sitting down on the bed next to Alexandra. He looked at her, his eyes full of mischief.
"What?"
"I'm trying to figure out how much you know about all of this."
"Meaning?"
"I'm the key of everything," he said seriously, staring at her.
She held his stare, her face suddenly more serious.
"When did you realize it?"
"And you, when did you?"
Her mouth opened in reflex, but she didn't try to deny it.
"When you asked me if I was working for my father. I realized you knew nothing about 2150. At that precise moment, I understood you had not been there already."
"Why did you not tell me about it? Or give me hints?"
"I wasn't sure. I mean, you never told me you had been in 2150. So there were three theories only. The first theory was that you had been there and you didn't want to tell me. In that case, I didn't know what to do about it. My second guess was that you had never been there, meaning that Sean had lied to me. Which was like being stabbed in the back. And my last idea was that you had been there, but not yet. Not for you. In any case, I couldn't tell you about it. It was such a headache to think about the consequences. If I had told you that I had seen you back in 2150 and that you didn't know about it, maybe you would have never done what you did. I needed to let you believe you had some control."
"Have you forgotten that I am a genius?"
"Honestly, Lucas. How could I have told you that everything was already written without making you change the story, change what you were supposed to do. I wasn't even sure I understood all of it. The time fracture is way too complicated to not end up with a huge headache and a lot of uncertainty. I've been filled with doubts all the time. Am I doing right? Should I say this or that? Is it something I would do or say if I didn't know? Is he too close? Am I too far? I swear to you, I would have told you if I had been sure it would help you."
"I know. And I know you did the right thing. You really did."
"So, you're not angry, are you?"
"No. Not at all."
Suddenly, a mischievous grin started to spread on Lucas' face.
"What did Sean tell you when he talked to you that famous night."
"He said you would kill him if he let me die. I thought it was exactly the kind of threat you would say."
"Really?"
"I told you he said something that reminded me of you! And, of course, he told me about Hannah. How they met, how hard it had been to live together, how much life hit them. And he told me how happy and scared he had been when she had announced that she was pregnant. Why he worked for my father, why he needed an escape from this world, how much he wanted their child to have a chance. That was what gave me the strength to fight my father, for that little life," she smiled. "He really wished for her and the baby to be safe. He knew I would never let them die."
"You were not exactly who you really are."
"You know how I am when I have the feeling I can trust someone. I believed what he said. It was quite comforting to think he was telling the truth."
Alexandra smiled at the memory of how distressed she was and how Sean's announcement had turned her deep sadness into slight hope.
"But I also knew he could be lying to me. It could have been a trap. However, I was sure about one important thing. He was right about my father. I could not let him win. I had to fight him. What was the point of losing my life if it had not helped a cause? And I wanted to protect you, all of you. Even if I was disgusted with myself, I wanted to do one last thing right."
"And you did."
"How did you know it would work? Sean, the cure, the portals…"
"I knew it because, like you noticed before, your father had not attacked us the second you arrived here. It meant that something or someone had stopped him. I guessed it had something to do with me, finding a cure for you. But it was Sean. Actually, I was not totally wrong, because he did highjack the portal because of me, of you, for you, for Hannah. To give us time to prepare our defense, to give Hannah time to give birth, to give us time to live."
"You really are amazing."
"No, you are amazing…"
Alexandra felt her heart tighten. Lucas had been so good to her. She loved him so much and she was so grateful that he had saved her. She wanted to find the right words to tell him exactly what her feelings were.
"I've heard once that to love is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, but to be loved by the one you love is everything. And you're everything to me Lucas. Everything."
Lucas' eyes shone and a smile appeared on his face.
"I love you too," he said before kissing her gently on her lips for the first time in days, but for him, it was a question of months. And it fell so good that nothing would have taken him higher at that time. She would be fine. She would be with him, alive. Lucas had succeeded, his plan had worked greatly. For the first time in a long time, he was more than proud about his cleverness. He was a genius and it had saved Alexandra's life. The moment seemed perfect and they both wished it could last forever.
Lucas, THE smartest guy ever! :) Let me know what you think about this reunion!
