Author's Note: Wow! I'm dying here from typing continuously, but there was so much plot to get through. Enjoy!

The more Skye thought about Josh's plan, the more it made sense. There was a big chance that Lucas's old affections would be triggered by her being sick, and he might take her out of the Brig. That would leave Skye the perfect opportunity to find a way to break Taylor, Shannon and Josh out of the Brig before they were executed. By the time a Sixer came down to the Brig to give the prisoners their food, the plan had been straightened out.

"Hey!" shouted Josh, the veins in his neck popping out from the strain. The Sixer looked back at him, his expression bored. "Skye's sick, she needs a doctor!"

The Sixer looked over at Skye, who was huddled on her side with her eyes closed. "She'll survive."

"She needs a doctor," repeated Shannon, his expression grave. "She must have gotten hit in her stomach when your people brought her down here."

The Sixer raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. Skye let out a whimper for effect, clutching at her stomach. Josh gestured at Skye, his eyes wide.

"If she dies from internal bleeding, it's going to be on your hands. Do you really think Lucas is going to be happy about that?"

The Sixer paused, looking from Skye to Josh to Shannon and Taylor. Taylor exhaled loudly, getting impatient. "Get Lucas. That won't kill you, will it?"

The Sixer hesitated for a moment, his eyes on Skye. Skye threw out her hands, holding her body up, and began to cough. The dry, hacking cough resonated throughout the Brig, emphasizing Taylor's words. The Sixer groaned. "Fine. But try anything funny, and I swear I'll shoot every last one of you. I don't care if Lucas wants a public execution or not."

The Sixer stormed out of the Brig, slamming the door behind him. The four prisoners sat in silence for a few moments in case the Sixer returned.

"Good work, Skye," whispered Shannon, breaking the silence. Skye looked up, her eyes lingering on Taylor. Taylor finally caught her eye and nodded. Though it was barely noticeable, it sent sparks of hope through Skye's heart.

The door flew open almost seconds later, banging against the wall behind it. Skye quickly dropped her head, wrapping her arms around her stomach again. Through the tiny slit her eyelids allowed, Skye saw Lucas walk into the Brig. He ignored his father and Shannon and walked straight over to Skye.

Skye's heart began to beat rapidly as Lucas crouched beside her. She felt his rough hand against her cheek and had to fight against her instinct to pull away from the scorching heat that exuded from his skin. Skye let out another whimper, tucking her head in.

"Karma hurts, doesn't it, Bucket?" Lucas's ever-groggy voice tickled Skye's eardrums, reminding her fleetingly about her dream that morning. She couldn't believe what had happened since that morning, when all she had been worrying about was whether Taylor had forgiven her or not.

Skye bit back her retort, deciding that playing the damsel in distress might pull out some more sympathy from Lucas. With a deep breath, reminding herself that it was for the greater good, Skye wrapped her fingers around Lucas's hand and squeezed lightly. She felt him freeze under her touch and wondered momentarily if she had done the wrong thing.

"Rogers!" barked Lucas suddenly, causing Skye to jump. Lucas rubbed his free thumb against the back of Skye's hand as Rogers, the Sixer who came with the food, entered the Brig. Lucas tugged at Skye's chains, and Rogers pulled out a key and unlocked Skye from the post. With one swift motion, Lucas scooped Skye effortlessly off the ice-cold floor and carried her towards the door of the Brig. He stopped before exiting, turning around to face his father.

"Rogers," called Lucas, his voice eerily calm. Rogers rushed to Lucas's side, reminding Skye of a dog. "Inject those two again. I don't trust them."

"Lucas, you're making the same mistakes over and over again," called Taylor as Lucas turned to leave. "Your mother would be – "

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Lucas stormed over to Taylor, shouting directly into his father's face. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER."

Skye opened her eyes and glanced at Taylor, signaling him to stay quiet. Taylor opened his mouth to retort, but Shannon reached over and tapped Taylor's shoulder, reminding him to stick to the plan. Taylor sighed and looked past Lucas, his eyes glazing over. Skye peered over at Josh, who looked worried. Even though the plan had been his idea, Skye knew how much he didn't like the idea of Skye being alone with Lucas. Before Skye could try to somehow reassure him, Lucas whisked her out of the Brig.

Skye kept her eyes closed for effect, but judging by the sounds of whirring rovers and triumphant Sixers, she knew that she was out of the Brig and on her way to the medic center. Lucas suddenly stopped, apparently distracted.

"Did you finally kill the Tate girl?" Mira's voice. Skye felt Lucas tense, his arms tightening around her body. Mira scoffed. "Of course not. I'm telling you, Lucas, she's no good. It's because of her that I can't see my daughter."

"Leave her out of it, Mira," growled Lucas, holding Skye so close that she could hear his heart beating through his chest. Skye pressed her lips together slightly as she was pulled into Lucas's rock-hard abs, resisting the urge to punch him in the stomach to see how hard they were. She heard Mira's stomping footsteps fading as she walked away, and she exhaled with relief.

Suddenly, a stroke of brilliance hit Skye like lightening. Lucas was being uncharacteristically protective, almost as though his affection was slowly returning. What if Skye could convince Lucas to keep Commander Taylor, Shannon and Josh alive?

"Lucas…" moaned Skye, cringing at how sexual her voice sounded. She reminded herself that she was supposed to be in pain, and scrunched her face to sell her act. She could feel Lucas's eyes piercing through her closed eyelids, and tried her best to stay in character.

"What, Bucket?" Lucas's tone was teasing, but Skye could hear the worry behind the humor. Skye grabbed a fistful of Lucas's shirt, pulling him close enough to hear her. She could feel his hot breath against her face and resisted the urge to push him away.

"You ne… you need to keep…" Skye swallowed hard, her head rolling back. Lucas brought the crook of his elbow up to support her head, pulling her even closer to his body. "You need to keep T… Taylor and Shannon alive. Y… you need them."

Skye could have sworn she heard Lucas's heart stop for a moment. "Why would I need them? I have no use for them."

"They're the only ones who know…" started Skye, but she didn't have another lie to feed Lucas so she let her body fall limp.

"Bucket," Lucas shook Skye, trying to revive her. "Buck – Skye! Skye, stay with me!"

Skye almost opened her eyes when she heard Lucas call her 'Skye', but the burden of keeping Taylor and Shannon alive was too heavy to drop. She could feel Lucas's panic as he began to sprint towards the medic center as if her body was as light as a teddy bear.

"Shannon!" shouted Lucas as he burst into the medic center. Skye felt him run over to what must have been the beds at the back of the center, and Lucas put her down as gently as possible.

"Skye?" Dr. Shannon ran over to Skye's bed, placing a hand over hers. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know, she was complaining about stomach pains and she suddenly stopped moving."

Skye could feel Dr. Shannon analyze her frozen body, and a shot of panic ran though Skye's mind when she realized that she had no way to explain everything to Dr. Shannon if Lucas hung around.

"We're going to have to run a full body scan," said Dr. Shannon, putting her Plex down on the bed. "You'll have to leave; we're going to need to take off her shirt."

Skye waited for the sound of Lucas's retreating footsteps, but they didn't come. After a long moment of hesitation, Lucas sighed. "Have someone inform me as soon as she's awake."

"Of course," replied Dr. Shannon, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Skye fought the urge to smirk as she waited for Lucas to leave. A minute later, Dr. Shannon leaned over Skye. "He's gone."

Skye sat up, her eyebrows raised. "How did you know?"

"I'm a doctor, Skye," said Dr. Shannon, a sad smile on her face. "So what's going on?"

"Lucas was planning a public execution for the Commander, Mr. Shannon and Josh BUT – " Skye rushed on as Dr. Shannon's eyes widened. "He's not going to anymore."

"W-Why?" asked Dr. Shannon, her eyebrows creasing with confusion.

"I told Lucas that he needed them for something," said Skye, brushing a few loose hairs off her face. "But I couldn't come up with what he needed them for, so I decided that it was the right moment to tragically faint."

Dr. Shannon chuckled softly, bringing a smile on Skye's face. Skye couldn't imagine how hard it was for Dr. Shannon to think straight, knowing that her husband and son's lives were on the line. Skye rubbed her eyes, realizing how tired she was. "So what're we going to tell Lucas?"

"Well," said Dr. Shannon, tapping at her Plex. "Your spleen and liver were compressed by some sort of force that caused bleeding inside the organ. The lining of the organs were also torn, and you won't be able to walk for another week."

"Sounds serious," said Skye, grinning. "I can find a way to get to the Brig tonight and break them out. And Lucas has them on some sort of injection that disables their bodies, so I'll have to do something about that."

"You need to be careful," Dr. Shannon put her Plex down and put a hand on Skye's shoulder. "If Lucas finds out that you aren't hurt…"

"Don't worry about me," replied Skye, waving her hand airily. "But I need your help."

"We're in," whispered Skye, pushing the door to the Brig open. Dr. Shannon followed close behind her, holding bottles filled with reversers for strong anesthesia. They had broken into the Brig by having Mark distract the Sixers while they swiped a security card off one of them and snuck into the Brig.

"Skye?" Taylor squinted through the darkness with disbelief. "Is that you? How did you get back in here?"

"Elisabeth?" Shannon's voice sounded hopeful yet disapproving at the same time. Dr. Shannon hurried into the room, crouched beside Taylor and Shannon and began to unpack the bottles.

"He completely bought it," said Skye, surprising herself as the words dawned on her. Persuading Lucas to get her out of the Brig had been effortless. "And I even convinced him to keep you three alive for the night. I told him that you and Mr. Shannon knew about something that he needed."

"Good girl," said Taylor, his voice so fatherly that Skye felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "What did you tell him you had?"

"Dr. Shannon told him that I had a squished spleen and liver, and that I won't be able to walk for another week."

"Josh, were you injected?" asked Dr. Shannon suddenly, peering over at Josh in the corner. Josh shook his head, his eyes on Skye. Skye looked up to meet his gaze.

"I knew it," muttered Josh, pressing his lips together. "I knew that Lucas would come running."

Skye walked over to Josh and pulled out a pair of pliers to free him from the chains. "It doesn't matter to me, as long as the three of you escape tonight."

Taylor began to shake his arm slowly as the reverser started to take effect. Dr. Shannon plunged the last injection into Jim's arm and stuffed the empty bottles back into the bag. "You'll be able to move again in a few minutes, but we don't have much time."

"You two need to go straight back to the medic center," said Shannon, his eyes wide. "You can't risk getting caught, especially since Skye isn't supposed to be able to walk."

"Shannon's right," agreed Taylor, stretching out his legs. He held out his wrists for Skye to break the chains. "We'll manage to get out of Terra Nova."

Skye clipped the chains off Taylor's wrists, biting her lip nervously. "Are you sure? What if you get caught?"

"He won't kill us," said Taylor confidently, looking Skye in the eyes. "Not after you told him he'd need us."

"It's time to go," said Dr. Shannon, looking down at her watch. "Mark won't be able to keep them busy any longer."

Skye clipped the last chain off Shannon's ankle and tucked the pliers away in her pocket. She followed Taylor and Shannon out the door, Josh close at her side. She looked up at Josh out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't sure how she felt about Josh anymore. Sure, his jealousy of Lucas was flattering, but it didn't seem as though he had gotten over Kara yet.

Thankfully, Mark seemed to still be on top of things. Skye turned away as Dr. Shannon leaned in to kiss her husband goodbye, feeling embarrassed. Josh wheeled around to face her, his expression serious.

"Be careful," said Josh, taking Skye's hands in his. "I wish there was some other way."

"But there isn't," replied Skye, pulling her hands out of Josh's. She didn't know why she did it, and covered it up by rushing him. "Now go! Before you all get caught."

Taylor, Shannon and Josh took off for the marketplace, where the gates could easily be accessed from. Skye watched them fade into the darkness, and she could have sworn that she actually felt some sort of pain in her chest as though her heart was breaking.

Author Again: :O well, what if they don't make it out? Skye and Dr. Shannon won't know until the next morning! I've already written half of the next chapter, I couldn't help it :). I'll be posting that tomorrow