Finally, Chapter 7. I hope you enjoy.

I own Rebecca Miles

Chapter 7

Rebecca could see it in his eyes. Moments before Taylor pulled her body to his, she saw his eyes change. Almost like something inside of him had snapped and she could see everything. When their lips met, Rebecca was stunned. She hadn't expected Taylor to kiss her like this, or even kiss her at all. Only seconds after Taylor surprised her, a slow burning wave rose within her body, completely taking her off guard. The wave washed away the doubts that she had about Taylor's feelings for her. Suddenly, she moved her hands up from her side and pulled Taylor even closer. She was worried about the potential backlash that a relationship between them could bring, but for right now it was just the two of them, and she could let herself go.

Taylor gave into his last reserve of self-control and reached up to Rebecca's long dark hair, letting it down. It cascaded down her shoulders and he spread his fingers through it, holding his hand up behind her head. Rebecca pulled away from Taylor for the briefest moment to take in a breath. Her eyes darted over Taylor's face in question, but he simply smiled at her. She felt a smile spread across her own face and quickly kissed him again. Suddenly, Taylor's radio emitted a loud hissing sound and a voice rang out breaking the spell and making them stagger apart. They stood there staring at each other as the reality of their scandalous situation came crashing down on them. Rebecca's heart was pounding and she was anxiously running every possible response that Taylor could say to her through her mind. Finally, he said softly,

"No one can know." He moved closer to Rebecca once more and ran his fingers down the side of her face, purposely brushing against her scar. She tilted her head into it and said calmly,

"I know."

Still holding his hand to her face Taylor said,

"Tomorrow, I'm going out to retrieve data from a scientific outpost. I'm taking you with me. We'll talk then." Taylor hesitated at the blank look on Rebecca's face, so in an act of desperation, Rebecca leaned in to give Taylor one last kiss before he could turn to leave. This time it felt strange and rushed for both of them, neither one knowing if, or when they would ever be able to have a moment like this again. They pulled apart, both uncertain of the future this relationship would bring. Taylor turned and started to walk away. When he reached her front door, Taylor quickly turned his head back to Rebecca in concern. Rebecca said steadily,

"I won't give any reason for anyone to suspect us." She did waver at the uncertainty covering Taylor's face. He nodded once and said with a sad smile,

"I know." He turned and walked out the door. Rebecca stared after him for some time, not really knowing what to think. Suddenly, she kicked a chair across the room in an unexpected outburst of frustration. Rebecca spent the rest of the night at Boylan's bar. She sat at a table in the shadowy corner throwing back a couple of shots. She stopped after those two, weighing the fact that she did have to go on a mission early the following morning, and Boylan was giving her quite a few concerned glances. In reality, she was anxiously waiting for morning to come, when she could be alone with Taylor again.

The next morning Rebecca reported to the rover garage and checked one out following protocol. She drove it through the colony, parked it near the front gate, and went slowly through some last minute security checks to prolong her reunion with Taylor. While Rebecca was making her way up to Taylor's office, Wash walked out and gave Rebecca an icy stare as she passed her on the stairs. Rebecca turned her head to glance back at Wash curiously before walking into Taylor's office.

Taylor stood up as Rebecca entered the room and walked over to the pack that he had waiting. When he looked at her, he was suddenly brought back to the night before and a mixture of passion and concern washed over him. Rebecca made him feel alive, but he couldn't help weighing the consequences if anyone were to discover his feelings for her. Taylor was impressed at the way Rebecca addressed him in front of the other soldiers, who were scattered throughout his office, as if nothing had happened between them. He felt a faint nagging hope at her ability to remain composed. They loaded up and Taylor gave Rebecca the order to head out. The mission went without a hitch, and Rebecca finally confronted Taylor about the night before.

On the drive back to the colony, Rebecca was nervously waiting for Taylor to mention the night before. He seemed to be on auto-pilot and focused, she could only hope that was an act. Finally, Rebecca couldn't hold it in any longer. She pulled off of the trail and stopped the rover. She kept her eyes forward as she said,

"I'm sorry. We need to talk about last night. I just don't know what to say."

"I'm not so sure myself Rebecca." Taylor said and turned his head to look at her. Rebecca remained silent longer than Taylor would have liked, but she eventually said,

"This was a mistake," she gunned the rover's engine and took off back down the trail with a faint grimace crossing her face. Taylor frowned and yelled over the din of the forest,

"Rebecca, stop." She made no effort to bring the rover to a halt again. Taylor raised a hand in frustration and yelled out again,

"Becca!" He finally reached over and put his hand on Rebecca's shoulder. She jerked her head towards Taylor quickly and finally slowed to a stop. Taylor kept his hand on her shoulder as he said,

"This is going to be hard Rebecca. We both know the risks if we were to get involved with each other. We would both be ruined. Besides, consider that I'm old enough to be…"

"Don't give me that crap." Rebecca interrupted. Taylor was completely shocked by the passionate and yet harsh tone of her voice. "I don't care about our age difference. Does that really matter to you, or are you just out of reasons why we can't be together?" Taylor stared at Rebecca in silence and finally said,

"You're right." He gestured forward and Rebecca had the grace to look faintly embarrassed before driving away towards the colony in silence. Taylor knew that Rebecca understood all of the risks, and he also knew that she didn't care. Now he was just fighting the morals that he instilled into his own soldiers. They finally arrived back at Terra Nova and Taylor dismissed Rebecca with a heavy heart, he had some thinking to do. His thoughts were plagued with those of Rebecca, distracting him from his daily duties. It took an inquiry from Guzman to finally make him focus more on his work, but she never completely left his mind.

Rebecca found herself back at Boylan's Bar, but not to drink. Sometimes she just liked to be surrounded by berating sounds, like the constant hum of people talking, or the clanks and growling motors from a garage. She preferred the latter, but she knew that Taylor usually didn't show up at Boylan's Bar for anything other than business. Now she was regretting the way she got caught up in the moment with Taylor. She was too bold, and she wondered if he was right, and them being together would be wrong. He was in charge of the entire colony and she was his soldier. She downed the rest of her drink in one long draft and made her way to the practice fields to distract herself.

The loud 'thwack' of the arrow hitting the target made Rebecca smile. The arrow was nowhere near the bulls-eye, but she was pleased that she finally hit the target. She had positioned another arrow on the bow before an all too familiar spiteful laugh rang out from behind Rebecca She lowered her bow and turned to see her sister walking up to her. The few soldiers who were practicing some tactical skill quickly turned their attention towards Rebecca and her sister. Wash picked up a bow and notched an arrow. After a moment, she pulled the string back and let the arrow loose. It hit the bulls-eye and satisfied she turned to the soldiers and said sternly,

"Dismissed."

Hastily, the men put their weapons and gear away while the sisters stood in silence, waiting for solitude. As the last man left, Wash turned back to her sister and spoke to her in a softer tone,

"You're holding it wrong, here…" She walked up to Rebecca and moved her arms until she was satisfied with the positioning.

"Now try."

Rebecca drew the string back and Wash made a few more adjustments before giving her permission to let go. The arrow whistled through the air and buried itself in the wooden wall that was placed behind the targets, for good reason. Rebecca cursed under her breath and said,

"I can shoot a tin can with a sniper rifle over a mile away, but I can't hit a target that's a stone throw away from me with an arrow."

"That would have to do with the fact that pulling a trigger is a lot easier than drawing back the string of a bow and letting it go without moving."

Rebecca flushed and turned around to face Taylor, who had probably walked up on her while she was concentrated on the target. He continued, cutting off another laugh from Wash,

"Look, I'm not saying that what you did was easy. You just have to practice."

Wash instantly stopped her laughter with a small choking sound as Taylor walked up to Rebecca and embraced her body with his to imitate her stance. He covered her arms with his, and to a bystander it honestly looked like he was showing Rebecca how to hold the bow. To Wash, it looked like so much more.

Rebecca turned her head towards Taylor while his arms were wrapped around her and they looked into each other's eyes. He softly cleared his throat and brought Rebecca back to reality and focused on her bow. Taylor helped guide Rebecca's arm back to draw the bow taught, and then he slowly backed away. She let the arrow fly and it landed halfway between her first shot and the foreboding bulls-eye. When Rebecca looked up, she saw Taylor smiling at her and the back of her sister stiffly walking away. After a quick glance around him, Taylor walked back up to Rebecca and said softly,

"Come to my office tonight, I was hoping you would stay a while."

He turned and left Rebecca in silence, not needing a reply. Her heart seemed to rise in her throat and in an attempt to dampen the emotion she quickly notched another arrow, drew the string back, and released the string missing the target completely. She cursed to herself and walked up to the wall to retrieve the arrows. She waited until the sun started to set before walking over to Taylor's office. Taylor was meeting with Guzman inside so she leaned on the railing that surrounded the building and watched the sun slowly dip below the mountainous horizon.

"It certainly is a sight to behold, isn't it?" Taylor said as he leaned on the railing next to Rebecca. He couldn't help but notice how the deep orange from the sunset highlighted Rebecca, and making her seem to glow. She quickly turned her head towards him and he had to prevent himself from reaching out to cover her hand with his. They both stood in an emotionless façade until the light from the sun had been completely swallowed by the mountains. Taylor turned and walked back into his office. Rebecca waited a few seconds before following him. When she walked through the doorway Taylor was already seated at his desk. She walked up to him and he said,

"I'll give you the code to my quarters. I have to finish up here. Will you be there in twenty minutes? Then we can talk." Rebecca nodded and started back out the door, but just as she reached it Taylor said, barely loud enough for her to hear,

"Remember, don't . . . "

"I know, be seen."

No soldiers ever guarded Taylor's quarters, they just patrolled by them in long intervals. Rebecca easily slipped into them unseen. She kept the lights out and moved into the living area, finally sitting on a chair. By the time the door opened, Rebecca had no idea how long she had been waiting. She stood up and moved behind the corner. The lights flashed on and she relaxed when she heard one set of footsteps walk through the door before it closed. Taylor called her name and Rebecca was surprised to hear uncertainty in his voice. She moved out from around the corner and found Taylor standing alone in the short hallway holding his jacket in one hand. When he saw her he visibly relaxed, surprising Rebecca. She was seeing the man behind the title of Commander.

Taylor tossed his jacket onto the small table by the door and started to walk up to Rebecca. He stopped very close to her and put his hand under her chin, tilting it up slightly. Taylor moved without a word, he traced her scar as usual, but suddenly he pulled her lips to meet his. They kissed softly at first and a wave of urgency seemed to rush over them as the kiss intensified. Taylor pulled back suddenly and studied Rebecca's face. After a moment he said,

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rebecca answered by shrugging out of her jacket and throwing it to the floor revealing her black tank top underneath and saying,

"Would I be here if I wasn't?" Taylor smiled and grabbed Rebecca, kissing her passionately. As they moved into another room Taylor turned out the lights.

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