Tadah! Next chapter is out!

Thank you to all the people who have commented/reviewed the fic! Unfortunately, Lucas won't be appearing so soon. Maybe in about 2-3 more chapters then he will appear... (So sorry!)

Anyway, this is a longer update!

So, yeah. Enjoy and do comment/review. I will see what I can do to make Lucas appear earlier. XD

Chapter 3: Leverage

Serena hummed a tune as she went to pick up her brothers. She was glad that Nurse Goodman had allowed her to work there in the clinic (although she had zero experience as a nurse). It was a better option than going to the cafeteria to work. God knows how many times she had burnt meals because of her non-existent cooking skills.

She was passing the market place when she spotted Jim Shannon. She was about to call to him when she noticed the look on his face. Jim only had that look when he was focused on pursuing something, be it a clue to an unsolvable case or an escaping criminal. She followed his eyes and saw a man dressed in tattered clothing. The only piece of clothing on him that was not tattered and worn out was a brown coat that looked a size too big for him.

He had a hand inside the coat, pulling out a gun. She follows them, worried with what that man wanted to do with the gun. She saw Jim run and she ran too, feeling adrenalin kick in as well as fear for whoever this man was targeting. She saw who the man was after and shouted a warning just as the man growled at Nathaniel Taylor to die before aiming the gun at him.

Just as the man fired the shot, Jim leaped and managed to take him down. Nathaniel had been pushed aside by the man he was talking to and the shot had missed him, barely. Serena reaches them and watches as armed guards seized the man away as he shouted obscenities at Nathaniel.

"Are you alright?" both Serena and Lieutenant Washington asked him.

"Yes, there's barely a scratch," Nathaniel said, getting to his feet. He looked over their shoulders at the man.

Serena turned to face the man and he froze, falling silent for a while before he resumed cursing Commander Taylor as he was dragged away. Serena frowned, wondering why he had looked at her as if he knew her. Then, she shook her head and thought that maybe he mistook her for someone else.

"Uncle, you should go to the clinic and let the doctors make sure you are fine," Serena said to him.

Nathaniel laughed. "I am a military man, Rena. Not some prince who can't bear to get his hands dirty. Go back to the clinic. I heard that Goodman does not take kindly to people who are late for work." Then, he turned to address Jim. Serena sighed and walked off. He was just like her father, thinking that just because they were soldiers meant that they were indestructible. And now her father was dead because of that way of thinking.

She stopped in her tracks. Dead… Her father… Dead… She shook her head, blinking back the tears. She has to be strong for her family. They needed her now to be strong for them. Not to break down at any moment. Go, Serena! she cheered for herself in her head as she went back to work.

"You are back," Ruth said, watching as Serena changed her clothes.

"Yes," Serena replied, rolling her eyes. "And I am ready to get back to work."

"Thankfully you went off for awhile," Ruth said as she walked off.

Serena frowned, wondering what Ruth was talking about. She turned to another nurse that was in the changing room and asked, "What was Nurse Goodman talking about?"

"A Sixer broke free and threatened Dr Shannon," the nurse, Eleanor was her name, answered. "Thankfully no one was harmed."

"A Sixer?" Serena asked, frowning.

"Yeah," Eleanor replied, looking at her. She noticed the frown on Serena's face. "Oh! Right! You just arrived here! Well, the Sixers are basically people who arrived on the Sixth Pilgrimage. But they left Terra Nova not long after they arrived. Commander Taylor found some weapons in their homes." She went back to changing her clothes.

"But why on earth would they have weapons with them? Unless they were supposed to be part of the security team here in Terra Nova…?"

Eleanor shrugged, tying the laces on her shoes. "Who knows. Maybe they came to overthrow the commander." She looked up and saw the shocked expression on Serena's face. She hastily added, "Just my theory, of course. I don't care that much about what people are trying to do. As long as innocent lives can be protected, the rest don't matter too much. Anyway, I better get going. I will see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure," Serena said as she placed her civilian clothing into the locker. Wasn't Terra Nova supposed to be a place of second chances? So far, she could see that Uncle Nathaniel was doing a great job. He was fair and just. Who would want to overthrow him?

"No time for thinking now!" Serena shook her head. She needed to get to work before grouchy Ruth decided to come after her with a scalpel for being late.

"Rena, could you come here and give me a hand?" Elizabeth called over her shoulder. Serena walked over to her and noticed that the man on the bed was the same man who had tried to kill Commander Nathaniel earlier. Only that now, the gun had been taken from him and he was tied to the bed. She realized that none of the other nurses and doctors wanted to get close, staying as far away from that bed as possible.

"Could you hold the spray?" Elizabeth asked. "As soon as I am done with cleaning the wound, I want you to spray on it. We have to make sure that it closes before any bacteria or virus enters the wound."

"Alright," Serena said, holding the spray and watching as Elizabeth cleaned the wound on the man's leg. She felt uncomfortable as he stared at her. Who was he? Why did it feel like he knew her?

It was impossible! Carter thought as he stared at the young nurse who helped the brave doctor. This girl was supposed to be back in 2149. His employers had made him and Mira use images of her as leverage against Lucas.

This girl was not supposed to be here. He needed to tell Mira before their plans feel apart. He needed to get home and make sure his family was doing well. The Phoenix Group had promised him a large sum of money if he went on this simple assignment.

Carter snorted in his mind. If this was easy, those bastards up at the top must have gone through hell and back a million times! He wanted to go home and be with his family. He should have listened when the people back home had told him that the job sounded way more dangerous than what was being told to him.

Somewhere inside him, Carter knew that they were telling the truth. But then, danger had always called out to him; his soldier blood singing in his veins at the thought of being in a war zone. Instead, here he was, tied to a bed after he had failed to kill the one man that had caused his life to be a misery.

Carter was pulled back from his thoughts as pain shoot up from the wound after the girl had sprayed whatever that thing was on his wound. He needed to tell Mira so that they could think of other ways to control Lucas. He had to tell her soon…

"Would you be free tonight?" Elizabeth asked as both she and Serena left the clinic for the day.

"Of course!" Serena answered. "Not to say there are any malls here that I could hang out in. Why are you asking?"

"I was thinking that it would be great to have some company over for dinner," Elizabeth said. "And I do want to know how Elena is doing." Elizabeth and Serena's mother had been friends since their days as medical students. While Elizabeth had gone on to further her studies, Elena decided to settle down, marrying Jack, whom she had met while she worked in a hospital near the barracks. Both women had remained as good friends throughout the years.

"I guess it should be fine," Serena said. "Mother would be happy to know that she has other people here that we can count on."

"That's great then," Elizabeth replied. "I shall see you later then." She turned off to the left towards the market. Serena smiled as she took the path to the right that headed back to the houses.

"Why the extra food, mum?" Maddy asked as she watched her mother pick out fruits and vegetables that looked too much for her family to eat!

"Maddy, do you remember Serena?" Elizabeth asked, discarding one fruit and picking another.

"Um… Auntie Elena's daughter, right? I do. But what does that have to do with my question?"

"Well, she is here in Terra Nova. Her family, and her, would be joining us for dinner tonight."

"Really? That's so cool! I have so many questions that I would want to ask her! And she has yet to tell me about the research work she did back in 2149! Not to mention…"

Elizabeth chuckled as Maddy prattled on the list of questions she had for Serena as she briefly hugged a bored-looking Zoe, knowing that her youngest was beginning to feel bored with all the scientific facts that came spewing out of Maddy's brain. To Maddy, Serena was like a big sister. She was glad that both her family and Elena's had remained close friends over the years. Though, it was sad to hear about Elena's lost. She wondered whether her friend would ever recover from her grief.

Suddenly, she heard sonic blasts coming from the guns at the gate as well as soldiers running towards the gate. She looked and was shocked to see vehicles being chased by a huge dinosaur. She grabbed both Maddy and Zoe and ducked behind a table, afraid for their lives. Soon, the dinosaur left. And Jim emerged from the smallest of the vehicles that had fled into the gates of Terra Nova.

Instead of lowering their guns, the soldiers now had their guns trained on figures that emerged from the larger vehicles. Elizabeth realized that they were similarly garbed as the man who had threatened her in the morning. At first there was chaos as soldiers from both sides shouted at each other, guns aimed and ready.

After commands issued from leaders of both sides, soldiers of both parties ceased shouting and waited for orders from their leaders. Elizabeth watched as both Commander Taylor and the leader of the Sixers, a lady named Mira, talked terms and then making an exchange. It was then she realized how much difference there was between life in 2149 and life here in Terra Nova.

"Go on home, Maddy," Elizabeth told her eldest daughter. "Take Zoe with you. I will be along later." She watched as her daughters went off before walking over to her husband. She needed some explanations and Jim was the only one who would tell her anything.

"What's wrong, Carter?" Mira asked. "You look like you have more things to say."

"Yeah," Carter answered, wincing when he shifted in his seat. The bruises on his body still hurt. "Lucas' girl is here."

"You mean Serena?" Mira asked disbelief on her face. "Are you sure you saw her?"

"Yes," Carter replied. "She helped a doctor treat my wounds. Should we grab her, Mira? If Lucas sees her-"

"Get some rest, Carter," Mira told him. "I need some time to think of what else we can do."

Carter frowned but obeyed her anyway, leaning back and closing his eyes. Mira looked out the window and pondered on what Carter had just told her. What was Serena White doing in Terra Nova? Her superiors were supposed to have made sure that she remained in 2149. Her being here complicated things, especially if Lucas found out that she is here.

Mira closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose to lessen her headache. She needed to get in contact with her superiors. She had to inform them and see whether they have any suggestions on what they could do to deal with this small problem.

Serena washes her hands and watches as her mother cooks. Elena was extremely happy when she found out that Elizabeth was also in Terra Nova and had rushed all of them out of the house so that they could go to over to the Shannons' house. Serena looked over to where Zoe played with Shane and Skylar.

When they had arrived, Elizabeth was rushing out of the house, saying that she needed to go with Jim to look for Josh, who was missing along with a group of other teenagers. Elena had volunteered for the babysitting job. So, here they were, preparing dinner for everyone.

Serena decided she needed a breath of fresh air and walked out of the house, finding Maddy sitting on the porch. Serena could see that she was struggling with a Maths problem. She asked, "Need some help with that?"

Maddy jumped at the sound of her voice and then said, "You shouldn't sneak up on people." She felt frustrated and embarrassed that she couldn't solve the question no matter how hard she tried.

"You were too concentrated on your work that you wouldn't have noticed if a dinosaur appeared in front of you," Serena grinned as she sat down beside Maddy. "Let me have a look at that."

"Thanks," Maddy mumbled as Serena begin writing out the solution.

"You're welcome," Serena replied. "I remember being stuck at a Maths problem similar to this one many years ago. But someone showed me how to solve it, even giving me a simpler solution than what was being taught in school. He was really good with Maths, better than I was. And here we go!" Serena returned the PlexPad back to her.

"So, what happen to that person who helped you?" Maddy asked as she read the solution. "Did he become a brilliant scientist like you?" There was silence and Maddy looked at Serena, who was looking down at the floor.

"He did," Serena murmured so softly that Maddy barely caught what she said. "The best there ever was." Then, she got up and said to Maddy, "I will be going home for now. Please help me tell my mother."

"Don't you feel hungry?" Maddy asked.

"No," Serena said, shaking her head. "I am still quite full from lunch. See you tomorrow, Maddy." With that, she walked off. Maddy watched her, hoping that she had not said anything wrong. Then, she went back to her work.

Elena peeked into Serena's room. It was the first time that she had ever skipped a meal. Elena hoped that she was alright. She noticed the room was dark and that Serena was asleep. She contemplated on whether she should wake Serena and get her to eat something. But did not do so since she knew about the rough day Serena most probably had at work.

She turned to go but stopped when she heard Serena moan. She turned back to face her sleeping daughter and heard Serena say, "Lucas…" Elena remembered what Nathaniel had told her that morning about what had happened to Lucas. Apparently she was the only one who knew the truth. She contemplated on whether she should tell Serena but decided against it.

This was something that Serena did not need to know. His leaving so soon after her father's death had scarred her deeply. If Serena knew that Lucas was working with people who (most probably) wanted to destroy Terra Nova… Elena shook her head. She could not bring herself to imagine what her daughter would do. It was best to keep her in the dark just as the other residents of Terra Nova. With that thought, Elena walked out and went to her room to sleep.