Author's Note: Thank you for the great reviews! They really motivate me Enjoy the next chapter!

Skye leaned over Lucas for a few moments, waiting to see if he would wake up. When he didn't stir, Skye pressed two of her fingers against the pulse point on his neck and exhaled with relief when she felt the blood pumping through his veins. She scrambled over to the other side of the rover and kicked the door open, jumping out.

"Commander?" called Skye, pressing a finger to the chip in her ear. After some feedback, Taylor responded.

"Skye. Are you outside of Terra Nova?"

"Yeah, I'm in the Meadow," said Skye, glancing back at the rover. "But don't come here; Mira's still out looking for you."

"Keep walking north from the Meadow," instructed Taylor. Skye fished out her brass compass from her pocket and followed the red arrow into the forest. She looked up at the sky, which was slowly starting to darken. Skye knew the forests well enough to know that they were never safe, but they were the most dangerous at night. She began to walk faster, keeping her eyes wide open. "Okay, I've been walking for – "

Suddenly, a hand clamped over Skye's mouth and pulled her deeper into the forest. Her eyes widened, and she tried to see where she was going but the thick cover of the forest made it hard. Next thing she knew, Skye was pulled into a rover.

"Sorry about that, but I didn't want to risk anyone hearing us."

Skye whirled around to find Taylor sitting in the driver's seat of the rover. She choked out a cough, bringing a hand up to her forehead. "It-it's alright. I just thought…"

"That I was Lucas?" said Taylor, looking over at Skye as the rover whirred to life. Skye pressed her lips together and nodded. "Skye, if this is too hard for you, just say – "

"No!" cut Skye, her eyes widening. The truth was that she felt like she was undoing the damage she had made when she helped the Sixers, and she wasn't giving that up any time soon. "I'm totally fine. I just knocked Lucas out, and he probably won't even be angry when he wakes up."

Taylor looked at Skye knowingly, and she flushed a deep red as he caught her lie. He didn't prod any further, to Skye's relief. She pulled the medication out of her pockets. "I brought the supplies. And I also brought some packaged food, in case you need it."

Taylor nodded appreciatively, pulling the rover to a stop at the bottom of a steep hill. "We'll have to walk from here."

Skye stuffed the supplies back into her pocket and pushed the rover door open. She followed Taylor up the hill, ignoring her aching calves. Skye's eyebrows creased together as an image of Josh covered in blood flashed through her mind, and she sprinted up the rest of the hill. Taylor led her to a body of water, and began to tread through it. To Skye's surprise, the water was only knee-deep. She splashed behind Taylor as she followed him through the water to a hill at the end of the water. Her eyes widened as Taylor pulled back the moss to reveal that the hill had an interior to it. Shannon was hunched over a slightly raised contraption made of branches, and Skye could see Josh laying on it.

Skye ran over to the back of the cave, fishing the medication out of her pockets. She started to open the medication when Shannon placed a hand on her wrist. "Here, I'll do it. You need to get back before Lucas realizes that you're gone."

"He's right," said Taylor, placing a hand on Skye's shoulder. "I wouldn't have brought you this far, but Josh insisted on seeing you and to be honest, it's a relief to have you away from Lucas for once."

Skye handed the medication over to Shannon but stayed hunched beside Josh, her hand closing around his. Josh's eyes flashed open suddenly, finding Skye's.

"Skye," breathed Josh, his gaze softening. Skye forced herself to smile back, but it was hard to smile as Shannon ripped away Josh's shirt to reveal inch-deep claw marks in Josh's side. Skye looked away as Shannon dabbed at the wounds with antiseptic, but Josh's hisses of pain reached her ears nonetheless. As she turned back to meet Josh's eyes, Skye realized that though she loved Josh unconditionally, she didn't love him the way she had before. There was nothing romantic about the way that Skye wished that Josh was back in Terra Nova.

But by the way Josh gazed at Skye, his eyebrows slightly raised and his head tilted, he didn't feel the same way. Skye knew that Josh thought he loved her, but she couldn't help but feel like he still though she was Kara. Skye got up, turning to go, when Josh reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Don't," he managed to choke out, his grip tightening on Skye's arm. "Don't go."

"I have to," replied Skye softly, pulling Josh's hand off her wrist. She patted his shoulder awkwardly before ducking out of the cave, her cheeks flaming. Taylor followed her out and led her across the shallow river again in silence.

"So do you know why Lucas has Wash locked up?" asked Taylor as they slipped and slid down the slope to the rover. Skye looked up and saw the worry in Taylor's eyes.

"I don't know," admitted Skye. "But no matter what, she's going to get out of there. Even if I have to break her out."

The rover rumbled through the forest, shaking as if to enunciate Skye's words. Taylor opened his mouth to protest, but Skye beat him to the chase. "Don't say I'm putting myself in danger, because I'm not. I'll handle it. But Lieutenant Washington needs help."

Taylor nodded, pressing his lips together. "H-how bad is she?"

Skye sighed heavily, looking out the rover. "Bruises, malnourished, but alive. And I'm so glad she is."

Both Taylor and Skye knew how much Skye idolized Wash. Taylor had first told Skye about Wash the night that Skye's father died, the night Skye cried more than she ever thought possible. He said that Wash was the strongest, most respectable officers that Taylor had ever met. After listening to Taylor ramble on about Wash for hours, Skye found herself wanting to be more like her. Besides her admiration for Wash, Skye found that Wash was easy to talk to and incredibly intelligent.

"I'm glad she is too," muttered Taylor absentmindedly, pulling the rover to a stop just outside the Meadow; closer than he had been before. "It's getting late, so hurry back to Terra Nova."

"Okay," said Skye, pressing her lips together. "Tell me if you need anything else."

"Will do," replied Taylor. Then, suddenly, he reached over and pulled Skye into a hug. "I'm proud of you, kiddo. Your father would have been proud of you too."

Skye closed her eyes, holding on until Taylor pulled away. "Thanks."

"Now go," ordered Taylor, gesturing for the door. "Before he wakes up."

Skye pushed the rover door open and stepped out into the meadow, approached Lucas's rover with caution. She stood a few feet away from the rover, peering inside. To her relief, Lucas was still unconscious. She knew that she should get into the rover, but the view from the meadow was inescapable. The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was a beautiful pink-ish orange color. Skye sat down in the grass, cross-legged, and watching the sun lower into the horizon.

Though Skye was facing away from the rover, she could hear Lucas awakening. He was trying to be as quiet as possible as he opened the rover door. Skye leaned back on her arms, throwing her head back to look up at the sky. "I'm kinda screwed, aren't I?"

When Lucas didn't respond, Skye turned around to face him. He was leaning against the rover, one hand behind his head. When Skye saw the expression of pain on his face, she got up and began to walk towards him. "Are you oka – "

Before Skye could finish her sentence, Lucas pulled out a gun and shot Skye square in the stomach. Skye's body lurched backwards, threatening to slam into the ground, she blacked out before she touched it.

Skye's eyes flashed open as something was pulled out of her stomach. A stab of pain radiated from the area to every other part of her body, making her scrunch up. Suddenly, Skye realized that her hands and feet were tied together with rope. She looked up to find Lucas watching her from the driver's seat of his rover, an amused expression on his face. He held up the bullet he had just dug out from Skye's stomach, and Skye realized that it must have been his infamous sedating bullet.

"I guess I deserved that," muttered Skye, looking down at the bloody tear in her shirt. Lucas reached into the back of the rover and retrieved a small bag. Skye watched as he pulled out cotton balls and antiseptic, shockingly similar to what Skye had brought Josh with the exception of antibiotics and skin sealant. Lucas dabbed a cotton ball in the antiseptic and looked at Skye. "Hands up, Bucket."

Skye looked away, pressing her lips together. Her hands were tied together, for one, and it would be much too awkward to try and raise her arms. Rolling his eyes, Lucas set the cotton ball down on the seat and grabbed Skye's arms, forcing them to wrap around the part of the seat that supported her head. Skye called out in protest as Lucas tied her arms to the seat, double knotting the rope.

Skye squirmed in her seat, trying to undo the ropes. She was now splayed out on the seat, her arms wrapped around the back, exposing her entire torso. Lucas lifted her shirt until the wound was visible and dabbed at it with the soaked cotton ball, smirking as Skye gasped from the sting. Lucas smirked as he pressed gauze to the wound. "You've betrayed me countless times, Bucket, and the punishment seems to get worse each time. Haven't you learned your lesson yet?"

Skye glared at him, tugging at the ropes again. "I could say the same for you. You deserved getting your head bashed into a rover. What you're doing to Lieutenant Washington is plain cruel."

Lucas grabbed the hair at the nape of Skye's neck, pulling her closer until she was only an inch away from his face. Skye's heart sank as she realized that this was exactly what she had done to Lucas before she smashed his head into the rover. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the blow to come.

Suddenly, Lucas's lips were at Skye's jaw line, planting soft kisses down her neck. Skye's eyes flashed open as Lucas's rough lips stopped at her collarbone, kissing the hollow of her neck. "W-what're you doing?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow seductively, as though he was challenging Skye to tell him to stop. Before she could open her mouth again, Lucas kissed the middle of her neck and Skye's head tilted back involuntarily. Taking her reaction as an invitation, Lucas brought his hands up to pull her face to his.

"You are so beautiful," murmured Lucas, caressing Skye's cheek with his thumb. Skye's eyes widened as Lucas pressed his lips to hers, setting her heart racing. Her eyes fluttered closed as Lucas took her lower lip between his, his stubble rubbing against her skin. Before she knew it, Skye was kissing him back.

Skye tried to stop herself, but found it impossible. It was even better than the first time Lucas had kissed her. She felt everything with Lucas that she never felt with Josh, and yet her brain was telling her to stop. But the rest of her seemed to be connected to her heart, because she ignored the screams of her conscience. Unable to take Lucas's face in her hands, Skye arched her body forward until her elbows were on either side of his face. With a chuckle, Lucas reached behind Skye's head and untied the ropes with one tug.

"Wait!" Skye gasped, pulling away from Lucas as her conscience got the better of her. She took a moment to catch her breath, her eyes taking in Lucas's frenzied appearance. "I-I have to get home. I told my mom I'd be there when she got back from work."

Lucas watched Skye for a moment, looking entertained. Then he reached over and brushed away a lock of hair that had come loose from Skye's ponytail, tucking it back into the hair elastic. "Then we'd better get going."

Author Again: There is SO much sexual tension between them! And for some reason every time I think of these two, the song "Tonight" by Enrique Iglesias plays in my head. Foreshadowing? I think so ;)