AN: Hello lovely readers! I know this story is a little slow to start, especially with the Lucas/Skye romance (let me tell you, I really want to get to the good stuff already!), but hopefully the next few chapters will pick up a little bit.
I really appreciate all the wonderful reviews! Keep 'em coming, please! And I like feedback of any kind; are the characters OOC? not enough plot? do I need to have Lucas strip down completely naked? etc. Just no flames, purty please.
She made up her mind to go directly to the Commander and tell him what Lucas was asking her to do. He would know how to help her and how to find his son's spies. She slipped under the gate and made her way to the Commander's hut, ignoring people greeting her or trying to catch her attention. She was so determined in her mission that she nearly collided with a woman right in front of the hut.
"So sorry," she said, flustered. She bent to help the woman pick up some fruit she was carrying home in a bag.
The woman bent down to help her, "It's ok. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
Skye was about to answer her when she noticed a gun lying on the ground along with the fruit. She looked up at the woman again. It wasn't exactly uncommon for civilians to have weapons, but it was strange to carry it with oneself to the market.
"What's wrong, bucket?" the woman asked innocently.
Skye gulped; Lucas really was watching her. She knew if she tried to warn the commander, they would do something terrible, to her or the Commander or to Josh, as Lucas had threatened.
"If he already has people stationed here," Skye said. "Why does he want me to get the medicine?"
The woman didn't play stupid or innocent.
"We have orders to stay here," she said brusquely. "We aren't allowed to leave the colony unless we receive validated orders. And no one has told us to give supplies to Lucas Taylor."
"So you would just let him die out there?" Skye asked, confused. He was the one that managed to make the portal work both ways; he was their leader in Terra Nova; could they really abandon him so easily?
"Our employers aren't pleased with his failure," she said with an evil grin. "They think we can find someone else to do the math."
Skye couldn't believe she could label what Lucas had done as mere math; it was genius, pure and simple. Then again, she didn't know hardly anything about physics or science or mathematics, so maybe she was just illiterate on the subject.
"But you still take orders from him?" Skye asked with a frown. They wouldn't take him medicine to save his life, but they'd still do his bidding?
"To a certain extent, yes," the woman answered.
"So if I say anything to Commander Taylor, you'll shoot Josh?" Skye asked.
The woman nodded, "Yes. We have set up many microphones and surveillance throughout the colony—if you say anything about Lucas to anyone, the Shannon boy will be killed."
Skye stood up suddenly, leaving the woman to pick up the rest of her wares by herself.
"Better run along, little girl," the woman said as she stood up slowly as well. Skye could tell by her strong stance that she was a soldier, just dressed as a commoner. "Lucas doesn't like to wait."
Skye stormed away from the hut with tears in her eyes. What was she going to do? She didn't know if the woman was lying about surveillance, but she wasn't willing to test them. The eleventh pilgrimage had already surprised them all once, she didn't doubt they could do it again.
She went directly to the medical center. Many didn't pay attention to her, so often was she there working or bringing in friends with injuries.
"Skye," Dr. Shannon called to her when she spotted her. "You're not scheduled until tomorrow, right?"
Skye nodded, her stomach doing a flip; the scenario was almost identical to just a few weeks ago.
"I think I left my bracelet," she lied to the doctor. "I'm just going to check my locker."
"Josh said you weren't feeling well today," Dr. Shannon said.
Skye internally cursed the boy. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut sometimes?
"Yeah," she said, rubbing her arm uncomfortably. "I was sick this morning, but I'm feeling better now. Josh and I are going to hang out tonight, I think."
The woman smiled widely. Skye knew that Josh's mom wanted her and Josh to date, despite Skye's disloyalty to the colony. Dr. Shannon probably knew that Josh really needed a friend to talk to since his girlfriend had been killed.
"Why don't you stop by for dinner tonight?" Dr. Shannon offered kindly.
"Sure, that sounds great," Skye said, slipping into the locker room with a small wave to the doctor.
She opened her locker and pretended to search inside it in case anyone happened to come in. When she was certain Dr. Shannon would have moved on, she slipped back out and went to one of the many cabinets full of supplies. She grabbed the necessary equipment, being careful to hide it in her purse while no one was looking. She didn't know where she would be able to find an extractor, though. She knew Dr. Shannon would have access to one, but Skye herself didn't. She went back into the locker room and grabbed her uniform, having a plan in mind.
She went up to one of the orderlies at the desk.
"Maria," she said in a friendly voice. "Dr. Potter asked me to fetch him the extractor, but I can't find it in any of the supplies cabinets?"
"It should be in the access-only closet," Maria said in a bored voice. She was only a few years older than Skye and didn't really enjoy her job.
"Can I get in there with my card?" Skye asked.
Maria held out her hand, saying, "Give it here."
Skye gave her the card and Maria ran it over a scanner lazily.
"There you go," she said. "It should work now."
"Thanks so much, Maria."
Skye dashed off to the supplies cabinet that only upper level employees were able to use. She was surprised that Maria gave her access so quickly and without question, but maybe Maria didn't have any reason to suspect Skye. Commander Taylor was nice enough not to tell anyone about what Skye had done.
She swiped her card over the scanner and watched as a green light flashed, indicating she could go in. Inside there were a couple of nurses and doctors, grabbing technology and medicines they needed. She spotted a row of extractors, at least ten, and grabbed one. At least she wouldn't be taking the only one, leaving Terra Nova without one.
She went back to her locker and changed out of her uniform, putting the extractor in her purse with the other supplies. It was the middle of the afternoon now and she could probably make it out to her clearing and back before she had to meet at the Shannon house for dinner. She really didn't want to risk bringing the supplies late and getting someone killed.
She was pretty exhausted as she ran through the jungle for the third time that day. She was fairly fit and accustomed to hard work, but she didn't normally make two trips OTG in one day, much less running both ways.
She skidded to a halt in the clearing and threw her purse down on the ground. She knew Lucas would be somewhere watching and waiting.
"No one followed me," she said in a painful wheeze, looking around the clearing.
There was a rustle in the tree she had climbed the previous night and she looked up to see Lucas slowly lowering himself with one arm. She had the gun in his weakened arm.
"That was pretty fast, bucket," he said, sounding pretty out of breath himself. "I'm impressed."
"You have your stuff, now let me go," Skye said.
"Not that fast," Lucas said. "I need your help."
Skye put her hands on her hips, "With what?"
Lucas motioned to his chest area, "I can't clean them myself."
Skye stomped over to him, grabbing her purse.
"Take your shirt off," she ordered him, angrily grabbing the disinfectant from the bag.
He started to gingerly peel it away, hissing through his teeth as he raised his right arm. Skye grew impatient and helped him pull it off. He grunted in pain when she yanked it. She didn't feel bad.
"It kind of hurts," he said irritably.
"Get over it," she said, examining the two wounds. The first one was right at the top of his shoulder, probably breaking his collarbone. The second one was right below his chest—it was a miracle it didn't go through a lung, but she didn't tell him that. Both were definitely infected and disgusting looking; it looked like he had tried to dig out the bullet in the one in his shoulder with a knife. At least he was smart enough not to attack the other one, since it was probably dangerously close to his lung.
She wiped at the wounds, not gently, with the disinfectant. She grabbed a towel and wiped off the dried blood to get a better look at the bullet holes: not pretty.
"You need to lie down," she told him.
He obliged and she cleared away some of the limbs and branches.
"How did you manage to live on your own out in the jungle?" she asked as she continued to clean up the mess with the disinfectant.
"No one ever shot me in the jungle," he said in a tight voice.
"What about those scars on your neck?"
He lifted his good arm to rub them thoughtfully, "That was difficult."
"What was it?"
"Nykoraptor," he said with a devilish grin. "Tried to bite my head off."
Skye raised her eyebrows at the amusement in his voice.
He put his hand behind his neck and appeared quite comfortable with her tending to his bare chest. His bare and well-defined upper body. Skye would have been impressed if she wasn't disgusted.
"Ok, I don't really know how this works," she admitted, pulling the extractor out. "I've never used one."
"You can figure it out," he said.
She turned the device on and ran it over the wounds. It made a low frequency noise and she pressed the button on the side. Lucas gasped in pain as one of the bullets shot out of the wound like the device was magnetic.
"That h—" he started to say but was cut off as she ran the device over the second wound. This one must have hurt him even more because he cried out as the bullet was pulled out.
"Didn't see any anesthetic," she said with a smile as he tried to take even breaths.
"Didn't want any," he managed to choke out.
"Figured you wouldn't," she said sweetly, patting is face.
He reached up to grab her hand and hold it to his face longer. His eyes met hers and held them just as firmly has his hand. Skye's stomach twisted and she pulled her hand out of his grasp.
"I have to close up the wounds," she said, pulling out the medical sealant spray she had used on her cut hand. She sprayed it on the two holes and watched as the skin began to pull together before her eyes.
"It won't completely heal the wounds," she told him, putting everything back in her bag. "Just the top layer to keep infection out."
She gave him a roll of gauze and the disinfectant spray, "In case you somehow manage to cut them open again."
He looked at her with a tenderness in his eyes that made her uncomfortable. It was a look that she was pretty sure he only gave to her, and only when they were alone. No one ever looked at her that way, not even Josh. It was like she was the only thing in the entire jungle, and he was happy about that.
"Don't leave me," he said, reaching up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"I have people expecting me," she said slowly. "If I don't come back, they will know something is wrong."
"Is it that Josh boy?" he asked with a disgusted look on his face.
"Yeah," she said defensively. "It is."
"You're too good for him," Lucas told her.
"But not too good for you?" she asked harshly.
Lucas looked away, "No, you're too good for me, too."
They were both silent a moment. Skye could tell the sun was beginning to fall into the horizon and soon it would be night.
"I have to go," she said, standing up and wiping the dirt off here khakis.
Lucas carefully sat up and started to put his shirt back on.
"When will you be back?" he asked as he shrugged his shirt on.
"I won't," Skye said.
He stood up and she took a step back to put more of a distance between them.
"I'll let you know when I need you next," he told her solemnly.
"I'm not going to spy for you!" she shouted furiously.
He put a hand against her shoulder as if to comfort her, but it only made her more uneasy.
"I don't want you to spy, bucket," he said. "I just need a few things every once in a while."
"I won't help you destroy Terra Nova again."
He shrugged, "Fine, I'll kill your boyfriend then."
He started to pull out the communicator from his pocket. Skye thought he was just bluffing, but she still fidgeted as his lifted to his mouth with his eyes on her.
"This is Raptor, do you read?" he said into the device.
The voice that came back was a man's voice. Skye began to panic.
"Shoot the kid," Lucas said unemotionally.
"No!" Skye screamed, running to knock the device from his hand. "I'll do it! I'll do it!"
"Nevermind," Lucas said into the comm with a satisfied expression.
He slid the comm back into his pocket and surveyed her.
"We got a deal?" he said, echoing her words from when she had saved Josh's life the first time.
She nodded, her heart beating incredibly fast, "Fine."