A/N: Big thank you to metube for her help and inspiration with this chapter! I just got into the zone and here it is! :-).. My Taylor is OCish but its for a good reason.. Also big thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter! It does make me giggle and smile when Character names are used for anonymous reviews..makes me wonder who will be next? and what will they say? I hope they don't flame me lol.. Enjoy!
"How is he?" Alicia asked late night in the infirmary 3 days later.
"Better but he hasn't woken up yet" Taylor said as Alicia pulled a chair next to him at Lucas's bedside. Taylor had not left Lucas's side in those three days except to have a shower and use the bathroom. Alicia was worried for not only Taylor but where all of this was leading with Lucas and how it was going to affect them and what it meant for their children.
She wasn't the only one with questions as Alicia and Jim had been fielding questions from angry and scared colonists for those three days about Lucas's return and why were they giving Lucas medical treatment. Alicia knew that the colonist held no qualms in bringing Lucas back dead but now that he was here and very much alive it changed everything. So they decided it was better to hold a town meeting in two days. It would give Taylor time to prepare a speech and answers for questions that would arise.
"Commander, what are we doing here?" Alicia asked, she had taken control of the colony day to day with Jim who was slipping into his new role with complete ease that made Alicia's life a lot easier especially with the return of Lucas.
"What do you mean?" Taylor asked he did not miss her using his formal title as she always did when she came to sit with him. He had thought it was that they were in the infirmary but now he was thinking it was something else.
"If he wakes up, what are you going to do with him?" Alicia asked.
"We put him in the brig so as to keep him out of trouble. Help him recover, give him a chance to atone for what he has done. He start his rehabilitation with helping Malcolm understand the calculations to re-open the portal if it's possible" Taylor said he was solely focused on wanting to see what was left of Lucas that he hadn't given the future much thought. He just kept looking at Lucas thinking about Ayani and how he owed her to memory to not give up.
Alicia pursed her lips as she didn't like the way he said 'we' as she personally wanted Lucas to be 6 feet under. He was dangerous, a threat to her and her children. She still remembered being put on display like a trophy and what he did to Kate, she remembered that night he pointed the gun at her head counting down. He was too far gone for redemption but she knew Taylor wouldn't listen to her as he was looking at Lucas like he was seeing the young boy who took after his late wife. Not the monster people were concerned about having in the colony.
"We?" Alicia asked wondering who was included in the 'we'.
"Yes, he's family. We have to give him the chance to redeem himself" Taylor said to her.
"You want to give him a chance that's fine but you need to explain that to the Colony. There are a lot of freaked out people there" Alicia told him. He did know, Alicia had kept him updated on what was happening outside the infirmary.
"We are having a town meeting I'll explain it to them. He's not getting a free pass" Taylor said firmly.
"Hey I'm just warning you that saving him wasn't a popular decision to begin with-"
"Neither was having the Sixers return to the Colony or Keeping Kate in the Colony"
"That's completely different and you know it. I'm just saying don't expect us all to welcome the idea of keeping Lucas alive or in the colony" she warned him, he narrowed his eyes at her assessing her for a moment.
"Are you one of them?" He asked her. She tried not to take the accusation personally as Taylor was running on little sleep.
"I support you but don't ask me to forgive him. I saw firsthand the results of the atrocities he committed during the Occupation. What he did was unforgivable-"
"So you'd abandon him if he were your child?" Taylor asked her.
"Nathaniel I'm not having this conversation with you" Alicia told him.
"No I want to know. Would you give up on our children if they made the same mistakes as Lucas?" Taylor asked.
"I-"
"Dad?" Lucas murmured, Alicia stood up and backed away from the bed while Taylor stepped forward and grabbed Lucas's upper arm. Taylor leaned over Lucas whose eyes fluttered open as he murmured 'Dad' again.
"I'm here Lucas" Taylor said to him. Alicia stepped outside of the curtained room and called the night staff.
"Lucas woke up last night, Doc Shannon says he's going to pull through" Alicia told Kate over breakfast the next morning. Alicia had stayed last night to watch as Lucas stirred only to fall asleep again. She asked if Taylor was coming home but he decided to remain. Kate paled at the news and dropped her spoon back into bowl.
"I lost my appetite" Kate murmured as she pushed her bowl of half eaten porridge away from her with a shaky hand. Alicia didn't blame her even she was having problems stomaching her food but it wasn't pregnancy related today.
"You should know Taylor wants to rehabilitate Lucas" Alicia informed her.
"Nothing short of a bullet to the head will help Lucas. The guy is psychotic and I read Escher's profile if anything Lucas will have just learned more tricks than be a changed man." Kate said Alicia appreciated Kate not saying Ellyas's name. When she said Escher it made it easier for Alicia pretend it wasn't her fault. She also agreed with Kate.
"We'll have to see what happens" Alicia said.
"You'll have to see. I'm not going anywhere near Lucas" Kate told her adamantly.
"So how are things with Malcolm?" Alicia asked changing topics.
"Still a colossal mess thanks to Dr Haynes" Kate said with a wry smile.
"What has she done now?"
"She fell into hysterics about her spiders being eaten and Malcolm had to reinstate her to stop her from becoming completely hysterical and now she just 'needs' him to help rebuild her life's research. So of course he's helping her and every time I try to talk to him she's there or just appears." Kate said rolling her eyes. Alicia nodded as she had been given request forms from Malcolm to go OTG and wondered if Kate knew that he was going to go OTG with Dr Haynes to collect more specimens. Alicia hadn't approved the request and now knew it was time to abuse her power.
"He'll make time for you. He has in the past, just gotta let the whirlwind that is Dr Haynes settle down. It was 6 months of study that has to be started over again" Alicia offered.
"It felt really good knowing it was Dr Haynes's research that the Monkey gobbled." Kate said with a satisfied smile.
"Have you asked Commander Taylor about my request?" Malcolm asked as he walked into the Command Centre. Alicia and Jim looked up from their Plexs at the Conference table. Neither of them game to take Taylor's chair.
"The request to go OTG?" Jim asked slipping into his role as Second in Command role immediately. He did like the tiny power rush that he got from being able to control Malcolm's coming and goings from the colony. He knew it would eventually get old but for right now it fun to watch Malcolm get huffy with him.
"Yes" Malcolm prompted rather impatiently.
"No, he's been busy but his orders stand no one goes OTG until further notice." Jim told him.
"Can't you persuade him otherwise? I know he's with Lucas in the Infirmary but at some point he has to return to his duties as Commander of the Colony" Malcolm said. He was in the group of Colonists who'd rather Lucas had been found dead.
"I could talk with him later but only after you do a favour for me first" Jim said as he looked to Alicia who gave a nod in agreement to their plan.
"What?" Malcolm asked.
"Spare an hour or two today and sort out whatever is going between you and Kate" Jim said with a meddling smile.
"That completely unprofessional request" Malcolm said.
"Yeah it is but since we have all to work with both of you and we suffer through your teenage dramas-"
"Teenage dramas?" Malcolm scoffed cutting Jim off. He was not having teenage dramas he was genuinely busy running a department and up to his ears in projects and dealing with Dr Haynes.
"Yeah, be a grown up Malcolm. If you want to be with her and have her babies then sort it out and be with her. Otherwise stop stringing her along it's not fair on her and she needs someone who will take her as is and support her. If you can't do that then step out of the way so Carter can have a chance" Jim said.
"Carter?" Malcolm said in disbelief.
"Yeah, I can't wait to see that courtship" Jim said with amusement to Alicia who nodded in agreement.
"We should probably reserve a bed and supplies in the infirmary just for him in advance." Alicia commented as she picked up a plex and tapped the screen pretending to make the memo.
"Yeah that's going to be a volatile relationship" Jim said.
"He and Kate are not in a relationship" Malcolm said firmly.
"Of course they aren't. Did I say they were dating?" Jim asked Alicia.
"No, you said once Malcolm mans up and breaks Kate's heart then Carter can pick up the pieces" Alicia said being incredibly cut throat about it. They were just pushing Malcolm into action.
"I'm not dumping her! I love her and I was going to propose on our six month anniversary until everything went bloody sideways." Malcolm told them. Alicia and Jim were stunned at his confession as they had expected the man to through his hands up at their juvenile antics and storm out of the room. It's not like he hadn't done it before. Malcolm too was stunned he had admitted what he had to Alicia and Jim. He had to get out of there.
"I'm going to go now. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone what I just told you" Malcolm said before he left the room.
"What's going to happen to me?" Lucas asked after Taylor pulled a seat up by his bedside. Taylor had stepped aside to talk with Elisabeth who had given the good news that Lucas would survive. He didn't miss the strong neutrality in the Doctor's tone and deportation. Elisabeth was usually a lot warmer in her regard to other patients apparently she didn't feel it for Lucas but her Oath as a Doctor meant she treated Lucas without bias.
"You'll remain here until you have physically recovered and then you'll be put in the brig" Taylor told him.
"I deserve as much" Lucas said looking up at the ceiling. He had opened his eyes to find himself in the infirmary his one hand restrained to the bed. He had been cleaned and his stripped of his clothes and bandages had been redressed. Anger curled in him as he didn't want any of this.
"We need to talk about what happened between when you left an-"
"I survived isn't that enough or would you like to know how I suffered? Would it help my case?" Lucas asked him scathingly as he hated his father for doing this to him.
"I wish you had left me to rot in that cave." Lucas had told him.
"Don't say that-" Taylor started.
"Please Father don't pretend to understand me. The only person who possibly could was murdered 11 years ago" Lucas told him, referring to his mother knowing it would hurt Taylor. He watched as Taylor's hand made a tight fist and Lucas felt satisfaction at know he could still hurt his father even in his weakened state. His father was forever fixing people or at least trying to.
"I can't … no I don't want to live with the memories of my time with that man. I also don't want to rot in the brig for the rest of my life either" Lucas said as he looked at the nub where his hand used to be. It made him angry and sick to his stomach looking at it. He looked over at Taylor and silently cursed the pitying look Taylor gave him. He had that look like he was going to try and help Lucas.
"In time-"
"Don't try to fix me. I'm not like your precious Lt Washington or Kate or Skye. I don't want to helped, I don't want to fixed! So don't patronise me or treat me with kindness I don't want any of it. Why did you save me?" Lucas demanded. He just wanted to die, what was the use in having an enemy if they didn't kill you.
"You're my son" Taylor said as if it was reason enough.
"I betrayed you old man! I nearly destroyed your precious colony, I tried to kill you! What will take for you to realise I am not your son! I'm your prisoner! Your enemy! So either put me out of my misery or leave me the hell alone!" Lucas shouted at him, he slumped back onto the bed and looked away, his mouth set in a firm line. Taylor remained in his seat and looked at the tortured man in the bed.
"I will give you some time alone to think. Be wise Lucas, I'm offering you a chance to change. Don't do it for me or yourself. Do it for your mother as you owe her to become the man she wanted to be. She sacrificed her life so you could have a chance at life. To grow up, have a happy fulfilling life not end up like this. So you owe her to change for the better to live the way she wanted you to." Taylor told him before he got up from chair and left Lucas to his thoughts.
"Commander" Baz said in surprise as he hadn't seen Taylor at his residence for the past three days.
"I thought this was going to be next week" Taylor said as he looked at the workers milling around his house and the nearly constructed extension.
"We were bored, anyway another day and you'll have your house back all to yourself and the ladies. How do you like the windows?" Baz asked as he gestured to the new windows that had been installed that morning.
"Looks good" Taylor said.
"Definite improvement from plywood" Baz said in amusement.
"I agree but they aren't from storage" Taylor said as the glass didn't look like standard Terra Nova Kit housing glass.
"Nah Daniel Maitland has been working round the clock making windows and other glass related things. Never seen a man so happy at work but he's running out of materials. Reckon I can send him OTG?" Baz asked making conversation about a Sixer who was their chief glass maker. Taylor wished that he could have the place to himself but it looked like he was out of luck.
"Have you filled out a request form?" Taylor asked.
"I'll get Kate on it" Baz said with a smile. Taylor shook his head "What? She's on light duties paperwork is light" Baz told him. Taylor chuckled at the man.
"I'll leave you to it" Taylor said.
Alicia looked up from her plex to see Taylor standing at the doorway watching her. He closed the doors to the Command Centre and walked over to her. Before she could ask if he was ok he pulled her to her feet and wrapped her up in his arms tightly and buried his face in her neck. Alicia wrapped her arms around his waist and held onto him unsure of herself, the Command Centre was a PDA no go zone and yet here they were hugging intimately. She wondered what happened with Lucas as it was the first time Taylor had left the infirmary in three days.
After a long moment passed Taylor took a deep breath and lifted his head. He caressed his knuckles down the side of her face as their eyes locked. She waiting for him to speak first so he could tell her what made him break one of their rules.
"I love you" he told her in a low voice. He pulled her back into a tight embrace again and she closed her eyes as she moved her arms up and around his neck as he pulled her as close as he possibly could to her.
"I feel at a loss" he told her in a low whisper. "I want to help him but I can't if he won't let me." he told her, Alicia remained silent as she could not find an appropriate response to what he was saying. "Where did I go wrong? How did I screw him up so badly?" he asked.
Alicia felt tears sting her eyes as this was not the first time Taylor had asked that question. It hurt to hear such a strong man show such vulnerability in this respect. But Lucas was always a sore spot for Taylor. One Alicia knew to be respectful of and to step around carefully.
"Nathaniel. You did nothing wrong. You were the best father you could be to him, he didn't want for anything, he had the best education available, and you were there for him when he needed you most. It's more than what most kids get in 2149." She said in a low voice to him. She speared her fingers through his hair and lifted his head up so as to look him in the eyes.
"He was lucky to have you as a father, just as our children will be lucky have you. I will keep telling you this over and over until it finally sinks in" She told him.
"Hey, I got you a delicious cupcake and a gallusaur sandwich. Eat one or both" Carter told her as he held a cupcake and a sandwich out to her. Kate eyed the vanilla cupcake with two strawberries on top suspiciously for a moment before taking it. She had no interest in the sandwich at least not yet.
"Promise it's not poisoned" Carter said plucked a strawberry off the top and ate it to prove his point that it was safe to consume.
"Why did you buy me a cupcake?"Kate asked as she scooped up some icing off the cupcake and licked it off her finger. They were sitting on two chairs they had pilfered a week ago so they could eat on the site looking at Kate's house. Carter and Kate found they both preferred to be in quieter less crowded surroundings. It was one of the few things they had in common.
"I also have a treat for the monkey" Carter said as he pulled a Petri dish with a spider from his bag, Kate winced as she really hated spiders. Carter set the dish on the ground and opened the dish with the live spider. It took only seconds for the primate on Kate's arm to jumped to the ground and snatched the spider.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Kate asked him as he unwrapped the sandwich he had offered her earlier.
"Because I heard your boyfriend is trying to go OTG with Dr Haynes. Dr Haynes is also trying to track you down" Carter told her before he took a bite of the sandwich.
"How do you come by this information?" Kate asked him.
"I was dropping off supplies to the lab for Baz" Carter said with a shrug.
"Is that where you procured the monkey snack?" Kate asked as she watched the primate rip the spider into more bite size pieces before stuffing it into his greedy little mouth.
"I'm sure it won't be missed. Damn he is really getting into that spider. Don't you feed him?" Carter asked with a chuckle.
"Of course I do, He's just a growing monkey" Kate informed him as she continued to eat the icing on the cupcake. "What does Dr Haynes want with me now?" Kate asked.
"Don't know, she gave me the stink eye when I didn't know where you were" Carter told her.
"Could this week get any worse" Kate murmured before she licked more icing off her finger.
"Oh so you heard Lucas alive and talking this morning as well?" Carter asked innocently. Kate paled at his words as she preferred to not think about Lucas on top of all the other drama. He placed a hand on her shoulder "You should have smothered him before you got back to the colony called it an accidental death" he told her. Kate looked at him incredulously for which he smiled and gave a half shrug. He felt no shame or quams about what he said.
"Kate?" Malcolm said from behind them. Kate and Carter turned their heads and looked over at Malcolm.
"Could we go for a walk?" He asked Kate, completely ignoring Carter's presence.
"Uh oh someone's in trouble" Carter murmured to Kate with an amused tone. Kate rolled her eyes at him before she pushed on his shoulder to stand up. She walked over to Malcolm.
"That looks like a nutritious lunch" Malcolm commented as he gestured to the cupcake missing half its icing.
"You want the other strawberry?" Kate asked Malcolm shook his head. Kate plucked it out of the frosting and ate it while they moved away from the construction site and people who could overhear them. She had to eat the strawberry before she said something stupid.
"So" Malcolm started, for a man who was normally quite eloquent he was having trouble finding the words to talk to her. "I- oh bugger it" He said and before Kate could react he grabbed the sides of her face and crashed his lips with hers in a deep and hungry kiss. He slowly ran one of his hands down her body to her wait to draw her into his body as she melted into him and the kiss.
"I missed you" he told her when he broke the kiss. They were both slightly breathless from the exchange. "and I know I've been awful to you and I'm sorr-why you're still holding onto the cupcake?" Malcolm asked as he noticed Kate was still holding the cupcake in her hand out from their bodies.
"I don't like to litter, you were saying?" Kate asked him as he had been on a good roll with the kiss and saying how awful he had been. Not that she needed him to grovel. She just needed him to say he wanted her back so they could get to making up and getting naked part. Preferably behind closed doors, she had missed the intimacy of their time together. The intimacy of just being held.
"I love you and I miss you. I want us to go back to-"
"We can't go back" Kate said, she didn't want for them to end up in the same place again if she decided to become a Deputy.
"Ok move forward. I just want to be with you" Malcolm told her as he held her close and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Jim asked me to be his Deputy" Kate told him.
"Ok" he said letting her go, she stumbled back slightly as she hadn't anticipated him letting her go so quickly. "And you said?" he asked folding his arms.
"I said I'd think about it" Kate told him suddenly feeling cold from his change in demeanour toward her.
"You'd think about it" he said clearly he was unimpressed.
"Yeah is this going to be a problem?" Kate asked him.
"Dr Wallace, come in" Dr Haynes's syrupy voice said over his comm. unit. Kate looked to Malcolm.
"No, if you want to be a deputy than be a deputy" he told her, he made it sound like it was a hardship on his behalf. Like he was the one being wrought in the deal. Kate winced as it was not the response she wanted nor did she want to have this discussion with Dr Haynes calling him nonstop.
"Maybe you should answer her call" Kate told him.
"I'd rather not, I am going to spend two weeks OTG with the woman"
"Really" Kate said it was her turn to fold her arms.
"Yes because her arachnid research has to be start from scratch. The work will go faster if it's two of us. Are you jealous?" he asked her.
"No, I'm just unsure of where we stand right now and I hate her. So either answer the call or turn off your comm. and talk to me" Kate told him. Malcolm pulled his comm. unit from his pocket and made a show of turning it off.
"Ok, I don't like the idea of you carrying a gun or painting a target on your back. I just want to know you'll be safe" Malcolm told her.
"I'm safer being a deputy than working on a construction site. And if I'm honest I'd like to be able to carry a gun with me everywhere. So you can either accept that my undesirable qualities and take me as I am or let me go." Kate told him. She hated making ultimatums they always backfired but she hated being how they were now.
"Ok" he told her. Kate wasn't sure what he was agreeing to. "I'll give you an answer by the end of the day but for now I have to go as Dr Haynes has tracked me down" he told her. Kate turned around to see the blonde running up to them. Kate tried not to laugh as the woman ran like Captain Jack Sparrow. There was nothing sexy about it at all and it was completely unnecessary as they were only a 15 minute walk from the research labs.
"Dr Wallace! I have been trying to contact you" Dr Haynes said out of breath. She bent forward catching her breath for a moment.
"Battery went flat" he said.
"I just finished cataloguing the arachnid specimens I'm missing 16 species and Mira came by to ask you something about the Terminus. She was quite rude. Some would have expected her to be appreciative in her circumstances. Oh Kate I didn't notice you. I need to talk with you" Haynes said with a plastic smile as she had regained her composure. Kate wondered why the woman had ran to begin with all the news she had wasn't an emergency.
"Make it quick. Carter and I have to get back to work" Kate said pretending to be impatient as she broke her cupcake in half and took a bite. Truth was she and Carter had an hour and only ten minutes into that hour.
"Work" Haynes said with a smile "Right, it's about that bath tub that's been sitting there for the past week and half"
"Seriously? You want to talk to me about a bath tub. I'm going back to work now" Kate said.
"Wait, I want the bath tub and I don't think someone of your let's say station doesn't need it" Haynes said, Kate tried to stop her jaw from dropping at the unveiled insult.
"I may not need one but it's mine" Kate told her.
"I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement where I could compensate you" Haynes said touching her arm. Kate took a deep breath as she tried to remain calm.
"Ok if you can win it off me. So if you win you get the tub. I'll even have it installed for free but if I win you stop with requisition forms and the pestering. Actually let's say you can't come within 3 ft of me" Kate told her.
"You are incredibly juvenile"
"I'll try and not let your compliment go to my head"
"What exactly do I have to do to win?" Haynes asked.
"We'll play a game. Trust me it'll be fun!" Kate told her.
"It's called International Cover up, 6 drinks in all… usually it's 3 pints of beer and 3 shots of whisky but hey you work with what you got. So we have 3 pints of Cider and 3 shots of that fruit liquor. Whoever finishes first wins" Kate explained to Dr Haynes who sat opposite her at a table in Boylan's bar. Kate gestured to the 3 pint glasses lined in front her and then to the shot glasses in front of Dr Haynes as she explained the game.
Kate looked around to the group they had garnered for this 'game' in Boylan's bar. It was mostly off duty soldiers and a couple of sixers. Malcolm had been called away to talk about the Terminus repairs with Mira. "Everyone got this?" she asked them all seeing them nod she gave the thumbs up.
"Seems simple enough" Haynes commented. Kate had to remind herself that these people didn't watch TV the only reason why she could get away with this. Shame it was only a one time deal. Once she played this trick on Haynes it could never be repeated. She really missed her TV watching days as she would love to rewatch 'Life on Mars' the US version she liked Harvey Kietel's character.
"Because it's your first time playing this game I'm going to let you take the shots." Kate told Haynes.
"I only have to finish 3 shots before you finish 3 glasses of Ciders? You must be joking? It can't be that easy" Haynes told her.
"I'm a simple person" Kate told Haynes with a plain shrug. Behind Haynes stood Carter who was trying to contain his mirth at her statement.
"Ok let's do this" Haynes said as she went to reach for her first shot glass.
"Wait I forgot to mention one rule. You can't touch the other person's glasses. At all. Agreed?" Kate asked.
"Agreed" Haynes said who looked happy as she was under the illusion she was actually going to win this. Kate looked at the 3 large glasses of Cider and made her eyes go wide.
"Phew, I got a lot to drink. You mind if I also have a bit of a head start?" Kate asked Haynes before the woman touched her first shot glass. Haynes looked at the Cider and Kate before giving a kind smile.
"Sure, since I am a kind person as well" Haynes said sitting back in her chair.
"Cheers" Kate said as she raised her glass and took a long pull. "Oh this is a good batch Boylan" Kate said between two pulls of her drink draining the pint glass to the three quarter point.
"I'm trying a new brewing technique" Boylan told her as he couldn't see why she would be so calm considering she had over a litre of Cider to consume.
"Really? Its working" Kate said impressed. She took another long pull. "You can start now" Kate said to Haynes. The blonde threw back her first two shots as Kate drained her first Cider. Before Haynes could reach for her third, Kate turned her pint glass over and slammed it over the top of the shot glass.
"Uh uh, we agreed. You can't touch my glass" Kate said as Haynes reached for her shot only to stop as Kate's glass covered Haynes's shot glass. "That's why it's called international cover up" Kate slurred with a wide grin on her face. Those around them including Kate laughed and a few applauded as it was completely unexpected and there was Dr Haynes being brought down a notch.
"That! ... You cheated" Haynes accused her angrily as she stood up so she could look down at Kate.
"I didn't cheat and I have witnesses to attest to that" Kate told her as she reached for her second glass and started to drink it as she sat back in her chair with a smug smile on her face. The alcohol was going straight to her head.
"You knew I'd lose" Haynes hissed low and angry voice.
"I told you the game, you agreed to the terms and played. Don't be a sore loser because you couldn't outsmart me Dr Haynes. It's very unbecoming of someone of your station" Kate told her with a wink. Dr Haynes shot daggers at her with her eyes before she got up from the table and left the bar red faced and embarrassed.
"You going to finish that?" Reilly asked as she pointed to the third glass of cider on the table. Kate shook her head and pushed it in Reilly's direction as the woman sat down.
"All yours" Kate said she felt drunk from one glass of cider and didn't want to push her luck. But then she was running on a few spoonfuls of porridge and a cupcake. She placed her half finished glass on the table and gave a relaxed sigh as it felt good to outsmart Haynes. All her TV watching was useful for something. Reilly sat down at the table as did Carter now that the crowd had dispersed.
"Baz is going to ticked off that he didn't get to watch that" Carter said as he picked up Kate's half finished pint and took a long pull of it. Kate didn't care as she was done with the drink.
"Oh I'm sure Haynes will let the whole colony know I scammed her" Kate said.
"Where did you learn that trick?" Carter asked.
"Life on Mars" Kate told him. He frowned as he didn't understand.
Late that afternoon, Alicia walked up to the half way constructed house to see Kate lying in the bath tub out the front asleep. So Carter wasn't lying about her sleeping on the job Alicia mused as she crouch down beside the tub and watched Kate sleep, she looked so peaceful it was almost a shame to have to wake her.
"Kate" Alicia said as she gently shook Kate's shoulder to rouse her from her sleep.
"Mm Alicia" Kate said as she rubbed her face. "What's up?"
"I need a favour" Alicia said.
"Name it"
"I'm late for my check up with Dr Shannon. Taylor was supposed to meet with me at the Command Centre so we could go together but he's with Lucas-" Alicia started.
"You want me to come with you" Kate finished. Alicia nodded, she beginning to dislike being second fiddle to Lucas but when Dr Shannon called her saying she was ten minutes late for her appointment. Alicia realised that Taylor had forgotten to come meet her at the command centre so they could go together.
She knew he was with Lucas and she couldn't just pry him away from Lucas for a check up and ultrasound. At least not without Lucas finding out she was pregnant. That was the last thing she wanted, so she pushed the appointment back 30 minutes and came to find Kate to use her as a smokescreen and to have company. She tried not to be upset as she was just as guilty as he was. As she too had forgotten herself as she was caught up in paperwork. But she still hated the common theme of the last three days of Lucas being his main concern. She hoped this wasn't going to become a regular habit with Taylor.
"You ok?" Alicia asked Kate as the Redhead was clutching her forehead and swayed a little haphazardly before Alicia grabbed her by the arm and helped her out of the tub and onto solid ground.
"You didn't hear?" Kate asked surprised that it was news as she got her bearings. The redhead was looking slightly dazed as she looked to Alicia.
"Hear what?" Alicia asked.
"Oh I had a cider at lunch with Dr Haynes. I won my bath and some peace back into my life. I had a half a sandwich and more drugs it wasn't such a great idea as I feel a little stupid right now" Kate said.
"You not supposed to mix booze and drugs" Alicia chastised her.
"Oh but it was worth it! Hey you know this is perfect timing as I need to go get a scan of my ribs" Kate told Alicia. Alicia chuckled as Kate was being a little loopier than normal.
"That you can and if you're not doing anything after you can help me pick out a colour for the nursery" Alicia said with a hopeful smile as she wanted to paint the nursery and she felt Taylor would be tied up trying to 'save' his son. Alicia appreciated that Kate didn't make any fuss about Taylor instead looking happy to step in.
"Yes, sounds like a plan but I do need to eat I'm starving" Kate said with genuine enthusiasm as she linked arms with Alicia.
"Ok, now shouldn't you tell them you're leaving?" Alicia asked gesturing to the crew working on Kate's house.
"Nah they won't notice me gone for a couple of hours" Kate said as she waved a dismissive hand. "So what are you thinking on colours?" Kate asked making conversation.
"Blue, but a dark ocean blue" Alicia told her.
"Oh I like that" Kate said as they walked in the direction of the Infirmary.
TBC~ See you all for the next update next week! I welcome advice, suggestions etc. :-)