Author's Note: Thank you to everyone for the amazing reviews! Enjoy :)

Skye watched Lucas disappear around the corner, fully aware of the stupid look on her face. She looked down at her shoes, toeing at the ground with her right foot. A sudden crackle in her ear made Skye jump, looking around at first to make sure that nothing had exploded. Skye's heart sank as she realized why her chip was crackling.

"Commander. He's gone," said Skye, recovering quickly. She had completely forgotten that she told Taylor to stay on the chip, and she squeezed her eyes shut, praying that Taylor hadn't heard anything.

"Almost thought you'd forgotten about me," said Taylor, something different about his voice. "Bucket."

Skye's eyes narrowed at the mocking tone in Taylor's voice. She had never realized how similar Taylor and Lucas's voices were. "Just doing my job, Commander. So the Intel's all good?"

"Yep, looks like it," replied Taylor, and the sound of keys clicking filled Skye's ear. "We're good to go. Thanks again, Skye."

"No problem," said Skye, exhaling with relief. As the signal within the chip faded away, Skye realized that she had forgotten to question Taylor about his other spies. But all that mattered was that Taylor believed Skye's lie. She couldn't imagine what would happen if he had to find out about them through a chip.

Wiping the sheen of sweat off her forehead, Skye turned around and headed back to her house, her mind overworked. Letting herself in, Skye headed straight for the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. As she finished her glass, Skye leaned against the counter and bent over at the waist. What was she getting herself into?

A crackle in the branches made Taylor's head snap up, his senses alert. Mark Reynolds stepped out of the dark trees, walkie talkie in hand. Taylor nodded at the boy, glad to see a familiar face. "Reynolds."

"Commander," replied Reynolds, approached Taylor with a wary expression. "You called, sir?"

"Yes, I did," said Taylor, leaning back against the tree he stood in front of. He had decided not to take the boy all the way to the cave for safety reasons, but he was beginning to wish that he had brought Reynolds back. It was getting dark, after all.

After a moment of silence, Reynolds became restless. "Sir…"

"Ah, yes," said Taylor quickly, pulling himself out of his reverie. "We have a situation with Skye Tate."

"Skye?" repeated Reynolds, bewildered. "I mean, Sir, what is the problem, Sir?"

Taylor exhaled heavily, pushing himself off the tree and folding his arms across his muscular chest. "Lucas… has been taking advantage of Skye."

"That bastard," muttered Reynolds, almost illegibly. Taylor didn't say anything – he didn't disagree with the boy. He couldn't believe that his son would take advantage of such a young girl, especially one that Taylor thought of as his own daughter. Skye thought that he hadn't heard what happened, but Taylor had definitely heard the long pauses and exchange of saliva, and it was enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck.

"I asked her about Lucas this morning," said Reynolds, pressing his lips together slightly. "She said that nothing was going on, but I could see the fear in her eyes."

"Unfortunately, we can't do anything about it until Terra Nova is under control again," said Taylor, shaking his head slightly. "Until then, I need you to keep an eye on Skye. Make sure she spends as little time as possible with Lucas, and don't leave her alone too much. She must be too frightened to tell anyone, and I'm afraid that she feels pressured to continue until Terra Nova is safe."

"Will do, Sir," replied Reynolds, standing up straight. Taylor nodded, feeling somewhat reassured.

"Get back to Terra Nova before anyone notices that you're gone," ordered Taylor, only half-stern. Reynolds gave Taylor a crisp salute before disappearing past the trees once again.

Taylor turned around, ready to return to the cave. He stepped on the branches and leaves scattered above the grass as he walked, the crunches filling his ears. It was so hard for Taylor to choose between getting Terra Nova back and helping the girl who was like his daughter. He knew that he couldn't let Skye associate herself with Lucas. It was bad enough that Taylor's biological son was disoriented; he couldn't let the same thing happen to Skye. He wouldn't.

Skye locked the door to her cabin, slipping the key in her pocket. She ran her fingers through her loose hair one last time before bounding down the porch stairs and heading down the road. Skye was pretty sure that she was going to the fort, but she had no idea why. She had jitters in her stomach, leaving her feeling like a teenage girl excited to see her crush.

As Skye exited the road of residential cabins, her jitters seemed to intensify. Her heart was leaping in her chest, threatening to escape. Just as Skye turned onto the road that led to the fort, Mark came running from the direction of the medic center.

"Skye!" called Mark, catching up with Skye in a few seconds. His expression made Skye raise her eyebrows. He looked nervous and pained.

"Mark," said Skye, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Wash was awake last night," said Mark, his breath catching in his throat. "And she told me some things that I think you need to hear."

Skye's eyebrows shot towards her hairline again. "Okay, tell me."

Mark pressed his lips together, hesitating. "You should've seen the things Lucas did to her, Skye."

Skye could have sworn that her heart stopped beating. "What? What did he do to her?"

Mark ran a hand over his hair, hesitating again. Skye widened her eyes insistently, prodding him to continue. "She's got bruises all over her body. He must have hit her pretty hard to bruise that much. He was just barely keeping her alive for information."

Skye blinked furiously, trying to get rid of the tears that threatened to spill over her cheeks. "But why? What does Wash know that Lucas needs?"

"Intel," replied Mark. "And security details about Terra Nova. He's been trying to rebuild the portal with Mira ever since they took over Terra Nova."

Skye covered her face with her hands, groaning into them. Mark stepped closer to Skye, lowering his voice. "And he wanted to know about you."

"Me?" Skye pulled her face out of her hands, her eyebrows furrowing together. Though she knew the answer, she still asked the question. "Why?"

Mark raised an eyebrow. "He seems to have taken an interest to you. Wash said that it was the only time that he wasn't yelling."

Skye swallowed hard, looking down at the ground. A few minutes ago, that information would have made Skye's heart soar. But after hearing what Lucas had done to Wash – after hearing that Lucas was plain abusive – it scared her.

"But don't worry," said Mark quickly. "Taylor's working really hard. Terra Nova will be back under his control soon."

Skye nodded, trying to keep herself together. Mark patted Skye on the shoulder reassuringly. "Are you going to the medic center for your shift?"

Skye pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Oh, no, today's my day off. I was, uh, going to visit Wash but I'm guessing she's asleep?"

"I'm not sure; the last time I went to the center was yesterday night. I'll come with you if you want to check."

"Nah, it's alright," said Skye quickly. "You go on. I'll see you later."

"No, really," insisted Mark, steering Skye down the road. "I'll come along."

Skye pressed her lips together and let Mark lead her down the road. She halted to a stop, however, as the fort came into view. Lucas was leaning over the railing of the balcony, talking to Mira, who seemed to finally have returned. The two were laughing like old friends; for all Skye knew, they could be good friends.

"Uh, you know what?" said Skye quietly, turning to Mark. "I told Mom that I'd get her some of that fruit she likes. I'm going to head to the market, but I'll meet you at the medic center later on."

Before Mark could reply, Skye took off down the left side of the forked road towards the market. After a few steps, Skye looked back to see if Mark was following her. To her relief, Mark was heading for the medic center. With a heavy sigh, Skye continued down the road at a slow but steady pace.

As the market came into view, the hairs at the back of Skye's neck began to prickle as though someone was watching her. Skye looked over her shoulder subtly to see Lucas following not far behind her. She picked up her pace, her heart pounding.

Lucas caught up with Skye as she approached a stand of fruits. He reached out to touch the small of Skye's back, but she jerked away. Lucas stepped back slightly, leaving a foot of distance between them. "Something wrong, Bucket?"

Skye ignored Lucas, pulling a bright green fruit out of the pile. She examined the skin of the fruit, hoping that Lucas would walk away. Lucas hooked his thumbs on his belt loops, a smirk on his face. "How am I supposed to help you if I don't know what's wrong?"

"Help me?" Skye spat, casting Lucas an angered glare. "You need to help yourself before you think about everyone else."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Skye stuffed the fruit back into the pile and turned around to face Lucas. "What you did to Wash? That's disgusting. No, it's not just disgusting. It's vile. It's cruel. And unfortunately, it's who you are."

Skye shrank back slightly as rage flitted through Lucas's eyes. The anger disappeared as he spoke again. "Bucket…"

"Don't Bucket me," hissed Skye, her courage returning. "Do you deny it? Are you saying that you didn't hurt Wash?"

"Yes!" snapped Lucas. Skye raised an eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, no. But – "

"That's what I thought," Skye cut Lucas off, stepping around him to approach the next stand. Lucas followed her, his hands clenching into fists.

"I never touched Wash," said Lucas, now only inches away from Skye's ear. "Mira was the one who didn't want Wash dead. She was the one who insisted on locking her up."

"So you didn't ask Wash about me?" asked Skye, pushed Lucas back with a hand. Lucas paused, watching Skye with unreadable eyes. Skye scoffed and picked up another fruit. "Mhm."

Skye walked over to the cashier stand, handing the fruit to the man behind the stand. Lucas stayed back, gazing absentmindedly in the other direction. Skye paid for the fruit, took her brown bag and tried to sneak around Lucas to get back to her cabin.

Lucas caught up with her almost seconds later, grabbing at the fabric on her arm. "Wait."

Skye pulled away and kept walking, wishing that there were more people on the roads. Lucas, ignoring the hint, kept following her. "Skye. Talk to me."

Skye kept walking but looked up at Lucas. His expression was pleading and almost desperate, and Skye looked away before she could do anything rash. "What more do you want me to say?"

Lucas stopped Skye by grabbing her shoulders and lifted her chin with his hand. "Are you mad?"

Skye pulled away and kept walking. "I have to get home."

Lucas reached out to take Skye's hand but Skye pulled away as they entered the main road. Lucas sped up until he was walking backwards in front of Skye. "You can't blame me for being curious, Bucket. You intrigue me."

Skye rolled her eyes at Lucas's seductive tone. As much as she knew that Lucas wasn't as guilty as Mark made him seem, she didn't want to forgive him because she didn't want to betray Taylor and the rest of Terra Nova.

What Skye didn't see, however, was Mark running towards her from the medic center. Lucas, who was facing Mark, signaled to the Sixers with a slight nod and they pulled Mark away, covering his mouth.

"Lucas," said Skye, shaking her head as she neared her cabin. "What do you want?"

"I want us to be okay again," Lucas took Skye's hand and turned her around as she stopped in front of her cabin. He reached out and stroked the side of Skye's face, his eyes softening. Skye sighed, but didn't move away.

"We were never okay," said Skye, realizing the truth in her words as they came out. "And I don't think we can ever be okay. Not when you hate your father so – "

"Don't," hissed Lucas, the rage returning to his eyes. The hand that was closed around Skye's wrist tightened. "Don't mention him. Not now. Not ever."

"But Lucas," started Skye. Lucas raised his hand to stop her, but Skye continued. "Wait. Listen to me. I want us to be okay; I want us to be more than okay. But for that to happen, you need to be okay with Commander Taylor."

"He isn't Commander anymore," snapped Lucas, pulling away from Skye. "And that won't happen. I'll never be okay with him."

Skye sighed, folding her arms across her chest. "Then I guess that's it for us as well."

Lucas suddenly grabbed Skye by the shoulders, his tone rising and becoming angrier. "Why do you let him RULE YOUR LIFE? DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT HE ISN'T THE SAINT THAT EVERYONE MAKES HIM OUT TO BE?"

Skye's eyes were wide with terror as she froze under Lucas's grip. She forced herself to speak, knowing that she had to get it out. "How do you know that? How do you know that he isn't a good person? He isn't the one that bombed the portal. He isn't the one that let Wash get locked up. And he definitely isn't the one that held my mother hostage."

"DAMMIT, SKYE!" Lucas pushed Skye into her front door and punched the wood right beside her head, close enough that Skye's ear filled with a loud ringing noise. Skye slipped her keys out of her pocket and began to try and open her front door behind her back without Lucas noticing. "WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT – "

Before Lucas could continue, the front door swung open and Skye lunged in, slamming the door behind herself. Her fingers shook as she turned the lock on the door, securing herself in and locking Lucas out.

"SKYE!" shouted Lucas, pounding on the front door. Skye backed up into the kitchen and watched the door shake from the force. "SKYE, OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

Knowing that the door wasn't going anywhere, Skye plopped the fruit bag onto the counter and leaned over, holding her head in her hands. What had she gotten herself into? She went from being completely in love to being scared out of her mind. The banging on the door intensified, as though agreeing with Skye's thoughts. It was pure adrenaline that got her away from Lucas's grip. She didn't know what she would have done if –

BANG

Mega-gasp! Lol this chapter was actually pretty fun to write, because it reminded me of Lucas's temper tantrum in the season finale when Taylor deactivates the bomb. Besides, Skye and Lucas are supposed to have a love-hate relationship, right? ;)