Finally, my next chapter. I hope you enjoy!

I own Rebecca Miles.

Chapter 5

Rebecca sat down at Boylan's Bar with a sigh. A silence filled the bar behind her as the customers realized who she was. Tom walked over to her, a full pint in hand, and placed it in front of her.

"It's on the house," he said. Rebecca looked up at him and laughed softly,

"Thanks." She noticed his eyes linger on her scar before turning back to his work. A few minutes later Boylan turned back to her and said,

"What you did was a very brave thing Rebecca. I know Taylor can wear on a person, but I would hate to see how Terra Nova would fare without him. Don't mind those people," he waved to the customers around him. Tom leaned in closer and winked as he said, "they don't know how to appreciate a hero when they see one." Rebecca smiled sadly again.

"Thanks Tom."

It had been three weeks since the Slasher incident and Rebecca's injury had closed over leaving the thick scar behind. She had immersed herself into working out to gain her strength back. By now Rebecca had more than compensated for her injuries and was in the best shape of her life. There wasn't much more for her to do either way, she hadn't been called out for a mission since the attack. So Rebecca found new ways to entertain herself.

Quietly Rebecca's shadow slipped into the Bar. Rebecca could feel that she was there, so she turned around and got up from her stool.

"Skye, what are you doing here? This is a bar." Skye looked up at Rebecca with big eyes. Skye came in with the fifth pilgrimage and was only in her early teens. She had just lost her parents to the Fever and Taylor graciously took the title of Skye's legal guardian. Ever since then Skye had latched on to Rebecca and followed her everywhere. Rebecca nodded her thanks towards Boylan and walked with Skye out the door. Once they got outside Rebecca turned to Skye,

"You can't stay with me today, Skye. I have to take care of some…grown-up things." Skye just looked at Rebecca skeptically. Then she nodded and bounded off down the rows of buildings. Rebecca watched her go and let out a sigh of relief. Today she was going OTG and she didn't want Skye to come along.

Rebecca shouldered her pack and tried to look inconspicuous. She walked around buildings and made her way to the perimeter fence. After checking for guards, she slipped through a large gap in the fence and sprinted the short distance into the forest. Almost every other day Rebecca would try to go OTG and loose herself in the wilderness and sneaking out was ridiculously easy. She had found a couple of slightly worn paths near the colony and had gotten bored with those. But the other day, she had found a place high on the mountain where you could see all of Terra Nova and she was determined to get there and back again by nightfall.

A loud snap behind Rebecca made her whirl on the spot with her hunting blade drawn and at the ready. She quickly lowered it at the sight in front of her. Skye stood before her disheveled with twigs in her hair and a few small scrapes on her face. Skye looked somewhat embarrassed but Rebecca could see determination fill her eyes. Rebecca sheathed her knife and said,

"Come on, we have a long way to go." Rebecca reached down into her pack and took out a smaller knife and handed it to Skye, "be careful with this and stay with me." Skye nodded fiercely. They worked their way up the mountain with Skye talking the whole time. Rebecca helped Skye up on a couple of larger rocks and she was relieved to see that they didn't run into any dinosaurs.

Rebecca and Skye stood together at one of the higher points on the mountain. They looked down upon Terra Nova and the surrounding forest. Skye had tears in her eyes so Rebecca gingerly reached over and gave Skye half of a hug, but Skye turned to Rebecca and crushed herself into her arms.

"Thank you," Skye whispered with silent tears streaming down her face. Rebecca didn't say anything. She just held Skye and looked down upon Terra Nova.

Hours later Rebecca and Skye slipped back into Terra Nova just in time for dinner. Skye's friends ran up to them as they entered the mess hall. Rebecca looked at Skye pointedly and Skye smiled and ran off with them. Rebecca saw Taylor walk into the hall with Wash and Guzman, deep in conversation. Rebecca cursed under her breath in annoyance and grabbed a quick meal to go and slipped out the side door, lingering long enough for the trio to see her. Her breath caught in her chest as her eyes locked with Taylor's.

Sure enough, thirty minutes later while Rebecca was bench pressing weights in the exercise room of the security building, Alicia walked in alone.

"You're in luck," Alicia started abruptly, "Taylor asked about your progress, to see if you were ready to be back in the field again."

Rebecca kept lifting the weights in silence. Alicia walked over to her in annoyance and forced the weights onto the hooks at the top of the rack.

"He wants you back out there Rebecca, are you happy now? Personally I think if you see or hear a Slasher you'll panic." She paused and asked cautiously,

"Are you over him yet Becca? You'd better be…"

"Or what, Alicia?" Rebecca interrupted calmly, "I never liked Taylor like that, I respect him. Personally, I think you're a little paranoid, which is strange because you were the one to cross me."

"You're lying," Alicia said softly.

"He's all yours."

Alicia looked somewhat satisfied at this and turned to leave. Rebecca lied back down on the bench and closed her eyes. She still had strong feelings towards Commander Taylor, but she had just wanted to shut Alicia up. Rebecca tried to suppress the flicker of hope that rose in her chest when she thought about being around Taylor again, but she was still confused and rather annoyed at the way he had been treating her over the last few weeks. Taylor avoided all eye contact with her for more than a few seconds, he avoiding speaking directly to her, and he seemed distracted whenever she walked into a room. Rebecca stood up and started pummeling one of the punching bags hanging in the corner. Dripping with sweat and thoroughly exhausted, Rebecca finally went home.

The next day, Rebecca got ready to go OTG again. She double checked for Skye this time. Almost at the fence, Rebecca's heart pounded, she had glimpsed Taylor following her. She played dumb and doubled back to make sure no one else was with him. Seeing that he was alone, Rebecca slipped through the fence. She watched from the forest and saw Taylor turn back around and disappear behind a small building. Her breath kept catching in her chest. Rebecca didn't know how Taylor was going to punish her. Now he knew that she was going off limits on an almost daily basis.

It was too late for her to turn back now, and she wasn't going to let Taylor ruin her fun. It was his fault that she even became bored enough to start hiking around Terra Nova in the first place. As she neared the top of the mountain, Rebecca heard a rustling sound from behind her making her turn. Slowly and silently she unsheathed her knife, watching the spot from which she had heard the sound. A familiar chirping echoed out from the bushes and she cursed her rotten luck. It was a Gallosaur, a small carnivore that usually hunted in packs to overwhelm their prey. Slowly Rebecca backed away from the bushes. Suddenly the Gallosaur leapt out of the bush and landed feet away from her, chirping and jerking its head in subtle surveying movements. No other Gallosaurs followed it out, so Rebecca assumed it was either hurt or shunned from its pack. It lunged at her and hissed as she swept her knife towards it. Rebecca's other hand was reaching for her holstered gun when another gun fired from behind her. The charge whipped by her shoulder and rammed into the head of the Gallosaur. It screeched and turned back into the bushes.

Rebecca straightened out of her crouch and lowered her knife. She turned around and said,

"I had it right where I wanted it."

"If you say so," Commander Taylor said with a smile. It faded as he continued,

"Now, I don't know what to do with you Miles. Something tells me that this isn't the first time you've been out here alone."

"I've had a lot of free time lately," Rebecca scoffed. "Come on, were almost at the top." She turned away from Taylor and continued up the mountain. Taylor followed in silence, until they reached the summit.

"With all of my time out here, I'm surprised that I never found this." Taylor looked out over Terra Nova. Rebecca turned her head towards Taylor and asked,

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Taylor jerked his head away from the view to stare at Rebecca. He paused for a moment, thinking over his answer. Finally he said,

"I wanted to make sure you were ready to be back in the field." Rebecca shook her head, crossed her arms, and said calmly,

"That's not the answer to my question, and you know it. What the hell is going on?"

Taylor took the few steps to cross the distance between them and said,

"Rebecca, I just can't figure you out." Taylor's eyes bored into Rebecca's and she stared back with as much strength as she could manage. Her head wanted to turn away from him, shielding her scar, but he never so much as glanced at it. Taylor continued,

"I know that I can trust you. What I don't know is what you want from me, from all of this."

Rebecca gave in to the urge and let her head turn down slightly, just enough to block Taylor's view of her scar. She gritted her teeth in frustration and turned her eyes downward too, he was being cryptic. Rebecca's heart started to beat faster in her chest and she clenched her fists in an attempt to calm down. Taylor gently placed two of his fingers under Rebecca's chin and slowly lifted her face back up towards his. Rebecca let her defenses drop and she knew her eyes were showing him everything. She held her breath as Taylor moved his hand up to her scar.

Slowly, Taylor traced the scar on Rebecca's face with his finger and followed it with his eyes. Rebecca gazed directly into Taylor's eyes while his were still focused on her scar. He showed no distaste or repulsion, just a sadness that shook Rebecca to the core. As his finger reached her chin his eyes shifted to look directly into hers. He spoke in a low voice,

"Every time I look at your scar, I'm reminded of how I failed to protect you."

"Don't say that," Rebecca interrupted in a soft voice, "because every time I look at my scar, I'm reminded of how I protected you." Her voice lowered as she continued,

"Please, don't blame yourself."

Commander Taylor didn't say anything. He reached back up to Rebecca's face to hold her uninjured cheek with his hand and slowly he started to pull Rebecca's face towards his.

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