"So you think we could continue what we started last night today?" Taylor asked as he pressed his forehead to Alicia's they had been in a serious lip lock while they were supposed to have been doing to dishes. Taylor had Alicia pressed up against the sink, devouring her with yet another passionate kiss. It was definitely a great way to start the morning. In fact they had had and pretty heated make out session in the bedroom before the twins woke up interrupting their moment demanding their attention. So they reluctantly got up and tended the girls needs before having breakfast themselves which lead to where they were now.

"Definitely after the cameras are removed" Alicia said as she nipped his lips. Her hands were in the back pockets of Taylor's BDU's pants holding him close and having a good feel. It had been a long while since they had been like this just enjoying the heat and the intimacy but both knew it wouldn't last long as Taylor had to to work.

"I'll have the cameras removed from the house within the hour" he said before he kissed her deeply.

"So there'll be no guards on the house" Alicia asked a little breathless as Taylor broke the kiss and moved his lips along her jawline to her neck.

"No more guards or cameras our space is ours again" he said though his voice was muffled against her neck.

"Good, now your should go as you need to talk with Malcolm and Kate before I get there with the twins" Alicia said reluctantly pushing Taylor away. She gave him a quick kiss before she wiggled out of his grasp and smacked him on the ass.

"I'll get you for that" he told her.

"Counting on it" Alicia told him as she sauntered to the bedroom knowing full well Taylor was watching her.

"I'm injured more than you" Malcolm teased Kate as they were sitting up in their bed eating breakfast. He was playing a game of 'one up' with Kate as it was better than having her depressed, angry or horny as he couldn't really help her with any of those his usual remedy was a good bout of sex and holding her but with broken ribs and recently repaired lung that made it a bit difficult to all of those things with there being a lot of pain on both their ends as Kate was bucket of injuries herself.

"No you aren't." Kate said in a teasing manner looking to him as he was reclining back in the bed with the back slightly elevated.

"I have four cracked ribs and a punctured lung" he told her as he ran a hand gently up and down her back as she sat up to her table with a straight back.

"I have a proximal humerus fracture and 3 fractured rib. Let's not forget my hands" she said showing the bandaged hands he caught her left hand and placed a gentle kiss on her inner wrist before letting her have it back to continue eating breakfast.

"I had surgery" he told her.

"I have more stitches than you. Just face it we are even stevens on this one" Kate told him before she ate a piece of pineapple.

"But I want to win" he said with a pout.

"Well you shouldn't have shot a lamp" she told him in a matter of factorial manner.

"I was aiming for the lamp" he told her hoping she would buy but she shot him a look that said otherwise.

"Really?" she asked him with a sceptical tone.

"No" Malcolm admitted, Kate smiled at him and giggled. He never thought he hear her giggle but she was giggling like a school girl at him. He had to admit it was adorable.

"You going to eat your fruit salad?" Kate asked after she finished her little giggle.

"Go ahead" he told her as he switched her empty bowl for his. He didn't feel any pain but he was feeling slightly nauseated by meds so he ate some toast and drank some tea but left the fruit salad and the bacon and eggs as it turned his stomach. Kate on the other hand scoffed her breakfast down like she was a starved woman. He just hoped she kept down.

"Cheers, you feeling ok?" she asked him.

"Hmm yes, I'm just wondering where you find your appetite." he said watching her eat. He was glad she was eating and looking happy.

"Pregnant and I've been trained to eat even when I'm not hungry" she told him in a tone that made it seem like she was trained by the military to stomach food while feeling heavily nauseated.

"Really?" He asked her, she smiled and shook her head.

"No but I know if I don't eat enough food now I'll feel worse for it later. You should eat more" she told him as she ate something that looked like a cherry but actually tasted like a passionfruit.

"Yes, because I'm positively wasting away" he said in a mocking tone he smiled so she wouldn't be offended.

"Here eat the rock melon" She said as she stuck a piece with her fork and held it out to him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Cause I don't like it or I might be allergic to it. I can't remember. Now eat" she ordered him.

"You never told me that. How allergic?" he asked as he hadn't missed her pushing her rockmelon from her fruit salad into his bowl earlier but then he figured she didn't feel like having it because some pregnancy food repulsion as Kate ate pretty much everything and anything put in front of her without complaint.

"I don't know I haven't eaten it in years and we don't buy it all the time. Don't make a big deal of it" Kate said as he ate the piece of fruit from her fork watching her. "And don't look at me like that" she told him.

"How am I looking at you?" he asked as he had been looking at her normally. Kate placed her fork down caressed her fingers slowly up his arm.

"In a way that is making me hungry for something neither of us are in any condition to satisfy or do without raising alarms" she told him, he watched as her eyes darkened with desire. They were somehow back to his wife being amorous with the most perfuntory of looks. He wasn't sure if it found it more amusing or frustrating.

Malcolm chuckled and was about to say something but didn't have the chance as the door to the room opened and Taylor and Jim came into the room. They both looked sombre for the early hour. If one called 9am early.

"Commander Taylor, Jim" Malcolm said in greeting to them. The men nodded and Jim pulled a seat and sat down while Taylor remained standing. He had closed the door and was leaning against the wall looking at them.

"Malcolm, Kate how are you two doing?" Taylor asked giving a brief smile. They had had a short chat with Mira and Carter who provided the same story but with their own personal spins and point of view. It was a little too rehearsed but then they were both ex-felons they knew how the system worked, Jim wasn't pleased as he wanted to push them for more details but Taylor wanted it wrapped up quickly and forgotten about. He already had feelers out on who would take the boy who was left behind and hoped someone would step forward by the end of the day.

He looked at Kate and Malcolm glad to see they were in good spirits, he had expected Kate to be a little morose but by the way she was looking at Malcolm he could tell she had something else in mind. He was amazed that Kate could even get into the mood with all of her injuries but obviously pain meds and hormones were working in her favour as she wore a look he'd seen Alicia wear many times. He hoped that Kate would control herself while he and Jim were in the room.

"A little messed up but we're ok" Kate said looking at Malcolm and biting her bottom lip. He gently nudged her and shook his head at her hoping she would behave herself. She moved her hand down his forearm in a slow manner until he caught her hand and interlaced her fingers with his. He didn't want Kate's only functioning hand to wander in front of Taylor and Jim. Some pleasures he liked to keep private.

"Speak for yourself. I had a nice track record of no broken bones until last night" Malcolm told her.

"Whingy Pom" Kate said.

"Apathetic Convict" Malcolm retorted, Kate burst out laughing at the name and immediately groaned. Malcolm's face was immediately filled with guilt and concern but she made a face and shook her head as she fell back onto her pillows. Taylor winced as he knew falling back like that would still hurt even with pain killers.

"I'm fine" KAte said Malcolm before she looked at Jim and Taylor. "So what brings you two here?" Kate asked them.

"We wanted to talk about last night" Jim said as he pulled out his hand plex to record the conversation.

"But if you're not up for it then we'll just call this a social visit. They have you on any meds Kate?" Taylor asked Kate as he looked at the set up on her side of the bed.

"Light sedatives but I don't believe it as she is far from relaxed" Malcolm drawled in an amused tone as he looked at Kate who was still smiling at him.

"22nd century drugs do a real number on me. One minute I'm up and the next I'm asleep. I don't want to know what they do to the development of our kid which has half of my ancient genetics" Kate said.

"Ancient?" Malcolm asked.

"You know what I mean. I'd rather suffer a little pain than dope myself up" Kate said.

"I don't like you being in pain-" Malcolm started.

"I've had worse" she told Malcolm cutting him off.

"You're taking the equivalent of what an adult ingest would for a minor headache. It's perfectly safe, Elisabeth and Damien said so" Malcolm told her.

"Yeah but it makes me so unbalanced" Kate grumbled. Jim coughed to cover up a laugh but it hadn't gone unnoticed as Kate looked at him with raised eyebrows as if questioning what was so funny.

"You're lucky that kid is half Kate it's the part that's indestructible" Jim said as a compliment to quickly cover up the fact he was more amused about Kat feeling unbalanced when she was possibly the most unbalanced person he knew.

"Clearly I'm not indestructible" Kate said dryly as she gestured to her current state.

"More durable?" Jim offered.

"Hilarious" Kate said to Jim she looked at his plex "I don't want anything on the record yet" Kate said.

"We want to wrap this up quickly"

"I appreciate that but I can barely think straight let alone recount last night's events without incriminating myself or knowing what I'm saying is what actually happened. Am I making sense?" Kate asked.

"You are, I'll just take some notes if that's ok?" Jim asked.

"Sure, fire away" Kate said.

"Just tell us what happened in your own words" Jim said, Kate looked at him and for a moment he thought she had drifted off into a brain fog when she brought her attention back to him.

"Ok.." Kate said she told them of how she woke up and the conversation she and Caetano had and the events that followed with Malcolm's involvement. She told them everything up until the point where she crash tackled Malcolm to the floor. "We slammed into the bed frame from the force of the blast and the rest is a bit vague" Kate said calmly and detached as she had several months ago when she had to recount her time during the occupation.

"Kate, you can do better" Taylor told her. Kate licked her lips and looked like she was truly racking her brain trying to remember before she spoke.

"…I blacked out I don't know how long and when I came to I was heavily disorientated. I'm not really sure of how but there was a gun in my hand and she was dead. I don't know how I made the shot but I guess I did as we are here and she is dead" Kate finished, they could see she was fading fast as her eyes were starting to droop closed and she was sinking lower on the bed. It was clear she wanted to be asleep.

"Where was the gun before it was in your hand?" Jim asked her, he knew they should call it quits as Kate needed to rest but he just wanted to know the truth of what happened.

"I don't know, on the floor between Malcolm and I?" Kate offered as she sunk into the bed looking at the two gentlemen with an expression that said she was finished with them and wanted to be left alone but Jim wasn't done yet.

"You have a broken shoulder and humerus. How did you reckon lifted the weapon and pulled the trigger?" Jim asked her casually.

"Adrenalin? I'm amazed you have to ask after all the stunts I've pulled in worse shape" Kate told him before she let go of Malcolm's hand to cover her mouth and yawn.

"You're right." Jim said.

"Any other questions?" Kate asked.

"For Malcolm" Jim said, Jim asked Malcolm to recount his memory of last night's events. Malcolm told him or how he woke up to the chatter and pulled the gun from his bedside table and went to check it out. He lied about Lamp said he'd been aiming at it the whole time to use the darkness as cover to escape. Then explained his slip of telling Kate to run which was when she had crash tackled him saving him from receiving a full sonic blast and then blacked out.

"That's it?" Jim asked Malcolm.

"Yes, I didn't have any out of body experiences I just remember hitting the floor and then waking up here black and blue and broken next to Kate" Malcolm said looking at Kate who was struggling to stay awake next to him. He had to admit he wouldn't mind a mid morning nap himself.

"Ok" Jim said as he and Taylor could see Kate was ready to sleep and Taylor shifted on his feet which was a sign to Jim that it was time to wrap it up.

"Is that all? as I think it's a good time to call it quits. Kate needs to rest" Malcolm told them.

"Yes, it'll do nicely for now. We'll wait until you both are cleared by medical before taking your formal statements for the record but we appreciate the latitude" Taylor told them with an warm smile.

"Could be awhile for me before I go on record" Kate half mumbled half said which made the gentlemen in the room smile as she barely made any sense.

"No issue there. We already spoke with Doc Shannon. So we have a rough idea of when. You two don't worry about anything but looking after one another and getting better" Taylor said, he and Jim had talked with Elisabeth and Dr Hastings who told them about their injuries and the time line for recovery. Dr Hastings was sporting some nasty bruises on his neck and made a comment about never underestimating a woman's strength but made no formal complaint.

They had informed them that Kate would take the longest to heal as they couldn't use derma spray or other normal modes of treatments due to Kate's sensitivity to their medicines. They also said it was easier to let her heal naturally than risk the baby's and the mother's health by experimenting. There was also the fact that Kate was adverse to anything more than the barest mininum of chemical treatments.

"Yeah don't get me started. You think I wasn't capable of saying my own name" Kate mumbled as she tried vainly to stay awake. Malcolm pursed his lips as he tried not to smile. It had been a pretty good fight watching Kate try and get herself out of the infirmary. He found it surprising and amusing how obstinate Kate could be with other people and was secretly glad she wasn't with him. She had her moments but usually she caved or default to him.

"It's not about just you Kate" Malcolm said carefully.

"Yes, it's about the kid" Kate said with a sigh as she was frustrated with how she was trying to do what felt best for the baby and somehow she always ended up feeling like a failure as she was overruled by doctors. At least Malcolm didn't patronize her like the tag team routine Elisabeth and Dr Hastings played on her this morning before their breakfast had arrived.

"Don't forget me too. I want the peace of mind knowing you're being taken care of and our boy as he depends on you being cared for" he said as he lifted her left hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. Kate's annoyance softened as she warmed from the way he made her feel so incredibly loved and make her and their child sound like his entire world with one sentence and a look.

"So you told him about it being0" Jim said getting their attention again.

"A boy? Of course and I'm still not calling him James, Jim, Nathan, Nathaniel, Carter, Alex or Tom" Kate told him.

"Or Damien" Malcolm said in amusement as Kate had reminded Dr Hastings that his name was out of the running earlier that morning.

"Especially Damien" Kate muttered darkly as she wasn't impressed with being given medication when she refused it. She felt like had a head full of fog and right now she was ready to fall asleep.

"I don't know why my name has to be cut off the list " Taylor said pretending to be upset at his name getting the cut.

"There are too many Nathaniels running around this colony" Kate told him.

"I'm sure we'll find a name we can agree on" Malcolm said to Kate.

"Can we talk about it later? I'm knackered right now" She told him.

"Of course" Malcolm said he looked to Taylor and Jim hoping they would take their cue and leave. Luckily Taylor did as he stood up straighter and motioned to Jim.

"Shannon and I are going to head out. But before we go I should mention Alicia will be by in the afternoon with the twins" Taylor told them.

"Ok" Kate said with a yawn, Taylor and Jim gave their farewells and left the room closing the door behind them. He turned his attention to Kate to find her already asleep. He took a slow and deep breath feeling relief wash over him as he felt everything was going to be ok.

"What do you want to do Shannon? I'm not throwing Mira and her second in command in the brig for saving three lives. If they even killed Caetano. I'm still waiting for solid evidence" Taylor said as he never thought he'd see the day when he would defend Mira or Carter. Jim looked at him incredulously from the guest chair opposite Taylor's desk in the Command Centre. They had come straight from the infirmary to the Command Centre were Taylor cleared the room and closed the doors as he knew Jim would have one of his melt downs. It was easy to read Jim as he didn't have a poker face to speak of.

"If? you know it would have been impossible for Kate to make a head shot in her condition. She had shredded hands and a broken shoulder and upper arm. Malcolm was out for the count and the direction of the body is conclusion that it was either Mira and Carter" Jim said.

"what do you want?" Taylor asked.

"I want the truth" Jim said.

"Good luck finding it with Mira." Taylor scoffed as he sat back in his chair and looked to Jim. It never ceased to amaze him how Jim bent the rules and lies as much as everyone else yet when it came to this case he was pushing hard.

"Why do I feel like you're just going to let it slide because they saved Kate and Malcolm?"

"And their unborn baby"

"Doesn't it bother you that Caetano a peaceful widow with a young son just started going on a murdering spree?" Jim asked.

"Of course it does but you're the law man. It's your job to find out why" Taylor said.

"Which is hard when I have you putting the pressure on me to close this case quickly and two possibly three people lying about what happened" Jim told him.

"I want this closed for Kate's sake. The woman doesn't need this hanging over her head, she needs some peace and quiet. She's not indestructible she has a bummed ticker and is pregnant. Your wife was the one who told us we had to limit our time with Kate about this case" Taylor said which was true Elisabeth had said to keep thier interactions with Kate about the case to a mininum as they were trying to reduce her stress levels.

"I understand that" Jim said.

"Good and in answer to your earlier question. Yes, I'll let it slide. Mira and Carter will never confess to shooting Caetano and Kate has it in her head she shot the woman which is self defence. If they don't budge from their statements how I am to not take their word for it?" Taylor asked.

"Because of the evidence"

"You understand the delicate relationship I have with Mira. This Colony needs the sixers as much as we need them, if I don't start taking Mira at her words and trusting her I will damage whatever trust I can earn with her and the others." Taylor said.

"You never felt it was important before"

"It was always important but this is about 'face' Shannon. I have an image and reputation to maintain. Right now I have enraged colonists who were Sixers and their friends were murdered. If I put their leader in a pod for shooting that murderer it won't go well. We don't know what happened, Caetano was still holding her weapon which to me says that the two if armed could have shot Caetano in self defence then planted the gun on Kate. One of many scenarios could have played but we will never know for sure" Taylor said.

"Well I would like to know what set Caetano off" Jim said.

"Hopefully that autopsy will show something up. Your wife give an ETA?" Taylor asked.

"No, apparently it can't be rushed" Jim said.

"Ok, well keep me posted" Taylor told him, in a tone that said Jim was dismissed. Jim gave a nod and rose from his seat and left the Command Centre leaving Taylor to his thoughts.

TBC~Cya all soon :-)