A/N: Many apologies for the wait but here is more! Hope you enjoy and feel free to give me suggestions of what you want to see more of in the story :-) ..On other news I'm in my last semester of uni and it's xmas so updates will get a little patchy.. So yeah forgive me! And as Always! ENJOY!

"What did you expect me to talk about with him? Should I tell him all about you and Lt Washington and your children?" Mira asked snidely as she didn't appreciate Taylor coming to her home and demanding she explain herself. He made her feel like she had commit some crime when she was innocent for once. She didn't want to socialise with Lucas but Taylor asked her to as a 'favour' so they could know what Lucas was up to. Mira didn't report to him unless it was vital information as there were cameras recording Lucas's conversations and movements in the cell.

"No but why are you two talking about Kate and why didn't you come to me and tell me about it?" Taylor asked Mira, they were standing on in the kitchen facing off one another like an old western movie but only Taylor had a gun.

"I didn't realise Kate was not a suitable conversation topic. Anyway I didn't bring her up he did. He went from not wanting to talk about her to gushing over her like some kind of obsessed fan girl" Mira said dryly, she rolled her eyes as Lucas was clearly going mental from being in the brig more than his isolation in the Jungle had ever done to his mind.

"What else have you two been talking about?" Taylor asked he didn't want to have review over 6 months worth of visitations to know what Mira and his son had been talking about.

What he didn't understand was that Kate had scared Lucas, hell even Taylor was scared at how she acted that day. He could understand Lucas's reticence but now his son was acting like she were his friend and that he genuinely cared for her. But Taylor knew better, he knew his son was just trying to rattle his cage and Kate's.

"Nothing much, Kate and my missing people. I told him about the murders. He believes it's one of your soldiers" Mira commented.

"It's not" Taylor reaffirmed to Mira as he didn't like his soldiers being blamed for the murders.

"I know, Kate walked me through the evidence she had that it wasn't one of your soldiers. Lucas wants to believe he has a wedge driven between us so that he has someone on 'his' side" Mira said, Taylor nodded acknowledging that while Mira and he appeared to a united front for the colony but on a personal level they were still on opposite ends.

"I'm sorry for your loss, it's never easy losing your people" Taylor said sincerely even though they had been enemies, losing one's comrades in arms was never easy to live with.

"Thank you, I'm only glad we found their remains for a proper burial, but I would like to find this killer" Mira said.

"Before she or he finds you?" Taylor said as he didn't need Mira and her friends running their own investigation. He wasn't about to start sharing the details on what they had about the killer with Mira either.

"Something like that" Mira said.

"We should take the twins out to the mess hall sometime this week have a break from cooking. I think they will like it" Taylor said to Alicia as they were sharing lunch. He had to admit he liked coming home for lunch and time with the twins and Alicia.

"I think Ella will spew on some poor soldier and Ava will sleep all the way through it. Let's not forget how we'll have to lug everything with us. So I'd rather we just stay in until I got the hang of them without everyone watching and judging me" Alicia said casually as she took another bite of her lunch. But Taylor wasn't fooled as he had somehow unwittingly struck a nerve with one suggestion.

"You are at ease with Kate and Doc Shannon" Taylor said as he knew he was opening a can of worms but he didn't understand why Alicia would be selfconscious of what other thought about her or affected by it.

"They are different" Alicia said before she took a sip of water.

"I just thought you'd like to get out of the house" Taylor said and that set her off as she placed her glass on the table and shot him a chilling look as if he had insulted her.

"I get out of house, I spend time with Kate and I go to the infirmary for the twins' checkups and to go to the markets. I'm not a hermit" Alicia said defensively.

"I wasn't saying-"

"Really?"

"Let's change the subject" Taylor said as he didn't want to have a fight with her.

"So you and Evan saw Lucas this morning. How did it go?" Alicia asked moving from one minefield to another.

"He agreed to do the work" Taylor said knowing it was safer to take her lead conversation wise than to tell her another topic would be appreciated.

"But?" Alicia asked.

"No buts. He's doing the work for a new cell room" Taylor said, Alicia watched him for a moment before she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You look like you're hiding something" Alicia said as she was calling his bluff.

"I'm not" Taylor said, Alicia narrowed her eyes at him again and he caved as he didn't want his list of sins in her eyes to increase. "Fine, Mira has been talking to Lucas about Kate. He wanted me to pass on a message of congratulations on her pregnancy and marriage. He appeared genuine in his well wishes" Taylor said. Alicia blinked and looked shocked at what he said.

"You believe him?" Alicia asked.

"I'm reticent to believe if he is genuine but I won't be passing on the well wishes to Kate if that is what you are asking" Taylor said as he noticed Alicia was eyeing him carefully as if preparing for the worst. She relaxed slightly at knowing he wouldn't bring up Lucas around Kate and continued to eat.

He wondered why she was being more abrasive than usual, normally they sat in silence and when he asked a question about eating in the mess or about something innocuous she'd give a non-committal answer.

"So how was your morning?" Taylor asked her.

"It was good, Kate was more energetic than usual but it was nervous energy. I think she was waking at every noise she heard in the house thinking the killer was lurking" Alicia said.

"Where is she now?" Taylor asked as he had expected Kate to be with them for lunch.

"Having lunch with her husband" Alicia said giving him a smirk like it were the obvious conclusion but then she was at home when Malcolm picked Kate up for lunch. He didn't even have to leave his office as Kate would have gone to him but he walked the short distance and took Kate by the arm and they left the house looking like a Hallmark movie couple.

"They could have come here" Taylor said.

"I think their version of lunch includes more than just food" Alicia said with an amused smile as she would have thought Taylor would know better by now. Kate and Malcolm were literally in the honeymoon of not only their relationship but marriage. It made Alicia envious as she wouldn't mind having Taylor make a few passes at her or even throw her some kind of look that he found her attractive. Yes they were fighting and ok he had thrown her a couple of good kisses but mainly he'd just give her the perfunctory kisses not the 'I want to strip you naked and eat you lunch' kind of kisses.

She started to think that maybe Kate was right, that sex might not solve everything but it would help them reconnect on a physical way as they hadn't had sex in a very long time. Not since her 24th week of pregnancy which over three months ago, she silently cursed Kate for reminding her how long she had been without sex and for putting such thoughts into her head as she blatantly looked Taylor over as he looked down at his plate eating his lunch.

"Kate I thought I took you off duty" Taylor said as he walked into Malcolm's office unannounced to find Kate and Malcolm flirting with one another over empty containers that he assumed were the remains of lunch. A small part of him was a little happy he broke up the cosy scene as he missed his cosy intimate moments with Alicia. He had come to see Malcolm and figured the man would be back at work not still having a break and flirting with his wife.

"You did we were just finishing up lunch something entirely unrelated to murders and work" Kate told Taylor with a carefree smile.

"Right, can I have a word in private?" Taylor said to Kate.

"I'll give you two the office" Malcolm said as he gave Kate a quick kiss on the lips before leaving the office. Taylor closed the door and pulled up the second guest chair and sat opposite Kate.

"Ok, what did you say to Wash this morning? She was in a foul mood at lunch" Taylor asked her. Kate made a face as she didn't appreciate the accusation.

"Nothing bad, when I left she was smiling and happy. So I have no clue, perhaps it's something between you two" She offered, not liking the fact she was being blamed for Alicia's foul mood when it was obvious to Kate who had all the information that her friend was miserable with the way her marriage had turned and the fact she was recovering from the trauma and stress of premature labour.

"Kate" Taylor said in a serious manner.

"Seriously I don't know what specifically has her in a foul mood. You two really need to talk to one another and figure this out" Kate said.

"I'm trying but it's not easy" Taylor admitted, he knew he was safe in admitting his weakness with Kate as she had confided in him. Kate sat back in her chair keeping an empathetic expression but offering no advice. "I'm not asking you break whatever sisterhood you two have with your 'vault' but I want to fix my relationship. Can't you offer me something that will help?" Taylor asked her, Kate didn't look happy at the question.

"I hate getting in the middle-"

"But you'll clue me in" Taylor told her. It was more of an order than a suggestion, Kate gave a sigh and placated to his wish as she wanted her friends to repair their marriage but she also hated that she had to offer advice because if it went badly it would be her fault. She didn't need that kind of responsibility on her shoulders.

"Give her time, you know? Take it easy. I know it's been rough for you two but you got to remember what has been going on-"

"I know what has been going on" Taylor told her as he interrupted her.

"Really? So you understand that you and her had a big arguement. That she went into premature labour and had to have a c-section when she wanted to carry to term? How she must feel like a failure, that the arguement is still unresolved and to top it off she is the Commander's wife where everyone is looking at her to perfect when she feels as far removed from perfect as she can be?" Kate asked him, he blinked shocked at Kate's inpassioned outburst he wondered if Kate was repeating Alicia's words or if she was talkign about herself.

"She told you this?" Taylor asked. Kate shook her head before running a hand over her face and giving a sigh.

"No, but I know if it was me I would feel like a failure. So put that into mind with all the issues about how you cut her brother out of her life-"

"And the betrayal from it" Taylor finished.

"Look, I really don't know. I just know she's in the pits and while she's ok I can see there are times when she just wants to be left alone or given time to sort through the mess. I know I would" Kate said.

"So that is why she is hiding in the house?" Taylor asked, Kate laughed and he shot her a look of censure.

"Sorry. But remember what we are talking about is pure supposition and we could be very wrong. Also she isn't hiding" Kate said Taylor shot her a look "Ok maybe a little but do you know how hard it is to get around with two babies that the whole colony wants to gush over? It took me over 20 minutes to get from your house to the infirmary. I don't blame her for wanting to keep the kids to you, herself and close friends etc." Kate said.

"Ok, any advice on what I should do?" Taylor asked her with amusement as she made it sound like the twins were celebrities.

"Plenty" Kate said smugly as she folded her arms and looked at him.

"Well?" He said when she said nothing. She gave a chuckle and shook her head at him.

"Really? You want to take advice from a woman who's been married for all of five minutes? I mean you've been married before you should old hat this" Kate told him.

"Alicia is nothing like Ayani, so I don't think the same rules and procedures would work with her. Tell me what would you want Malcolm to do? Humour me" he said as she shot him an incredulous look.

"Ok I'd want him to.." She drawled shaking her head "I don't know, Malcolm usually listens to me or makes me talk and then rewards me with sex" Kate told him, Taylor shook his head as he knew that wasn't the answer for him and Alicia. But then Kate was just being honest in her answer. A little too blatantly obvious for him. He didn't need to know Kate and Malcolm's sex life.

"He also takes care of me, doing all the little things and reminding me of why I love him. Not that I need reminding but it's nice." Kate said before she made a face "I'm sorry I'm not much help" Kate said.

Taylor took in her words and understood what he had to do, what he took from Kate's words was that he needed to remind Alicia of the reasons of why he loved her, besides giving him two beautiful babies among other reasons. He knew she felt he took her for granted and she was the 'fool' not that he agreed with the assessment. So maybe he needed to change her low opinion of herself by showing her how much she meant to him.

"No, you've helped. Now get out of the labs as I need to talk with Malcolm about the case" Taylor told her.

"Ok" Kate said smiling as she rolled her eyes, she moved to pack up the mess as Taylor left the room to find Malcolm.

"So, Evan and I saw Lucas this morning. Due to your-" Taylor started before Malcolm cut him off.

"Amnesia. Let's call a spade a spade" Malcolm said as he hated how people walked on eggshells around the topic of his memory loss. After Taylor and Kate finished their private conversation, Kate had gone back to Alicia and Taylor's while the men headed off to the secondary labs. Which was where they were now talking with Evan about the Terminus upgrades and the future projections and schedule for the project.

"I don't recommend you talking with him unless I'm with you and I'd want to prepare you" Taylor said, even if Malcolm knew about Lucas he still wanted to prepare the man so he understood completely that anything Lucas said had to be taken with a grain of salt.

"I read my journals, I know what happened" Malcolm said as most of his journal read like fiction but he didn't question its validity as nearly everyone had warned him to be careful of the topic of Lucas.

"Don't you find it a little disturbing you kept extensive notes on your wife?" Evan asked Malcolm as Evan found it incredibly invasive and creepy. Sure every guy kept a mental book on the do' and don'ts of the woman they were in but Malcolm was first one Evan heard of her kept a detailed physical record of it. But then it obviously helped in Malcolm's case.

"No, I'm glad I have them though otherwise it would have made my recovery that much more difficult" Malcolm replied honestly as he truly wasn't bothered.

"Anyway, you can understand why I don't want to put you two in the same room. My son has a way of sounding incredibly convincing when he wants to be. So Evan will be in direct contact with Lucas" Taylor said moving the conversation along.

"Ok" Malcolm said as he hadn't expected it to be any other way. He had enough on his plate he didn't need more work or micromanage Evan's project.

"Good, I'll leave you two to your work" Taylor said, he was about to walk away when Malcolm stopped him.

"Oh Commander can I have a word in private before you go?" Malcolm asked.

"Sure" Taylor said as he gestured for Malcolm to take the lead.

"I can't believe I had forgotten how incredibly annoying you can be when you want something" Alicia told Kate as they were in the gym, Kate had managed to clear the gym with exception of two soldiers which she wrangled into babysitting the babies while they worked out. They had warmed up and few aerobic exercises before Kate grew tired and made them change to the punching bag so Kate could hold it while Alicia continued to exercise.

"Well, it's been over a month which means you can start exercising and you have a lot of anger going on inside you When I am super hormonal and angry, Guzman and Jim make me do boxing and you know what it really helps to just punch the crap out of something." Kate said as she held the bag as Alicia was doing a mixture of timed punches, jabs and kicks.

"Right" Alicia said as she punched the bag she did have to admit it felt great to work up a sweat and hit something.

"I know you don't need a kick in the pants to workout but I figured it was time we did something other than sit around. Plus you have over 60 free baby sitters at your beck and call" Kate said.

"Highly trained soldiers are not baby sitters" Alicia told Kate.

"Really? Look those guys?" Kate said jabbing a thumb in direction of the two men Kate had ordered to look after the twins. They of course would have told her to get nicked on any other day with any other babies but it was the commander's children so instead they stood over the carry beds the twins were sleeping in staring the twins down waiting for the slightest movement or noise so the twins would have all their needs met. Alicia had to admit it was amusing to watch.

"Oh and apparently the mother's group offers 'Mommy and me' yoga" Kate said.

"I'd rather shoot myself in the head than stretch and listen to the jibba jabba they spew about 'being connected with my children'" Alicia said dryly before she threw another combo of punches at the bag. Kate laughed as it was probably very close to the truth, Kate had attended the prenatal yoga class just for kicks but couldn't handle all of the 'feel connected with the new life in you' talk, it annoyed her how yoga was her special time where it was about her. She didn't need to hear about how the baby was taking over her body and life.

"I hear that" Kate said, Alicia paused to catch her breath and looked at Kate.

"Thanks for this. I really needed this" Alicia said sincerely as she didn't need motivation to exercise as she wanted to get back into shape but she did however need a push to get started. Someone who wouldn't just hold her hand and placate her either.

"It's ok, I figure we could start doing some pilates again and next week I'm doing Yoga with Maddy in the afternoons as her mornings are pretty full on. So if you want to join us? We can do it in your backyard that way you don't have to worry about lugging the twins around" Kate said with a smile.

"You know you were only taken off duty yesterday and you're already filling up your spare time with exercise" Alicia told her.

"Only 2 hours of the day, the rest will be eating, sex and lying around being generally lazy. Just because I'm tired doesn't mean I shouldn't exercise, plus I'm getting fat" Kate said making a face. Alicia laughed at Kate's vanity.

"It's called being pregnant, you're supposed to put on weight" Alicia said as she wiped the sweat off her brow before putting her hands on her hips and looked at Kate. Kate shot her a look and leaned forward still holding onto the bag.

"I have what you Americans refer to as a 'pooch' " Kate said in a low voice so no one could hear her. Alicia tried to keep a straight face "It's not funny! I look like I've been eating one too many pies for dessert lately" Kate said dramatically.

"It'll grow bigger" Alicia assured her with made Kate frown.

"I know but I worked so hard to have this body can't I just be me with my flat stomach and fit for 8 months and then POW! 8 months pregnant belly pops out-"

"Ok you're being ridiculous. One if that happened it would be incredibly unnatural and painful and two suck it up! I had twins, look at how much hard work I gotta do to get back my old body. Knowing you, you'll probably sneeze out the baby at 37 weeks and be back to your old body in less than three months. If anyone is allowed the rights to bitch it's me" Alicia told her matter factorily. She knew Kate was being dramatic but couldn't help but snap with misdirected anger.

"Ok, are you going to punch that anger out?" Kate asked her with a smile. Alicia sighed and shook her head as she went back to punching the bag.

Later that evening, she was cooking dinner as her son played quietly on the floor of the lounge room.

"So, how about it?" the man with knife asked as he appeared beside her. She jumped and relaxed as she saw it was him, she wished he wouldn't sneak up on her. She continued to stir the food she was cooking on a low heat.

"No, it was stayed for two weeks. You shouldn't be here" She told him in a low voice as she didn't want her son to see them talking.

"Don't you like that feeling that it gives you? The power you hold over your victims? Come on, I know you like it. Don't let the others and their weakness hold you back." He told her as he traced an invisible pattern on her arm.

"I said 'No'. We had to finish off the last one in case he recovered but Deputy Renshaw's execution has been stayed it was a group vote. Now go away"

"I'll keep watch on her" he told her, the woman turned him her eyes wide as that was not the agreed plan. She also knew he liked to take advantage of an opportunity than keep to the schedule.

"No, we-" she started but he cut her off.

"Yes, with her preparation is 'key'. We cannot afford to mess this up she isn't like the others. I won't approach her or be caught I just want to watch her" he said to her.