A/N: I know it has been a while since I last posted but hopefully this chapter will suffice for now. There is only a few chapters left to go in this story and I hope to get them finished real soon as I have a small one shot or sequel if you want to call it to this story called 'At Last' which I want to upload but cannot till this one is finished due to who the main characters are and what they are doing.

So shall we continue….

Gabriel shifted her weight on her leg as she peered into the undergrowth surrounding her, she knew the other members of her team were close by even if she was unable to hear them. It had not taken long to find the Phoenix encampment the microchips imbedded in each of the colonists was a real help she thought to herself although she and her team had none implanted in them, it was one of the things that set them apart from the rest of the colony, that and the fact that they were not exactly who people thought they were.

She smiled to herself as she thought how well her team had integrated itself into the colony after coming through on the last ever expedition. They had all known every single one of them that this would be a one way trip in more ways than one and that it was unlikely that they would ever return to their old timeline but none of her team when given the choice had decided to not come, they were good people she mused to herself experts in their secondary fields that they had chosen to cover up their activities both here in Terra Nova and back home. The sole reason why here team had been chosen they were one of if not the best team that had ever been trained.

Movement to her left signaled that she had company and she glanced in that direction while tightening her grip on her pulse rifle, she had only to wait a few seconds before her second in command slithered his way to her position.

"There are only a few guards on the outside of the cave system Colonel, they seem to think that they are safe here on the edge of the bad lands and the few mercenaries I spotted inside the entrance of the cave system seemed to be idle at best. There is however one other smaller entrance towards the east of the main one that appears to be unguarded, don't think that they know that it is there. Stupid mercenaries they are not as good as they thought they are at securing their base."

"Thank you Sargent. We move in ten, tell the others."

"Mam."

As her sergeant moved away to tell the rest of the team Gabriel made her final preparations knowing that there would not be time to do what needed to be done later on. She thought briefly of Boylan and wondered if she would ever see him again, he was an unseen complication in their ongoing mission but it was one that she hoped if she and her team survived the next encounter and if they managed to make it back that she could continue with.

XxX

Ryan stirred as the darkness that had consumed him started to recede, it was still darkish in the cell he had found himself in and the floor was just as hard and jagged as the last time he had awoken the only difference this time was the other person who shared the same cell as he was still by his side gently stroking his cheek like they had done the first time he had awoken after being taken from the his room above Boylan's bar.

The hand that had been stroking his face pulled back a little as he opened his eyes as fully as he could and he could see a blurred image of a slender figure sitting next to him.

"Who….who are you?" he asked.

The other did not answer him for a moment as if hesitating to do so. He wondered perhaps he had imaged the person sitting there gently caressing his cheek like the way a mother would to their child when the person spoke.

"Hello Private Marshall."

Those few words almost had him sitting up straighter but he groaned as pain flooded through his body and he slumped back with a whimper, the hands again on his face cupping it while the person pushed back down to the floor.

"Shush….don't move Marshall you have been badly beaten and your body needs to recover."

"Yeah…no kidding," he muttered through clenched teeth, as the pain receded a little but not enough so that he couldn't feel it anymore, it lingered in the background like an ever present annoying feeling. He tried to sit up again but the hands held him in place as his mind slowly caught up with the words he heard and recognition of the person presently holding him suddenly flashed into his mind.

"Lieutenant Washington…you're supposed to be dead."

XxX

Gabriel's team moved carefully through the undergrowth they knew the security of the mercenaries under the Phoenix commander was the worst they had ever seen but they were not taking the chance that it was just a ruse to get them to drop their own degree of caution in the present situation. She could see each of her team as they got to the rendezvous point just to the left of the apparently unguarded smaller entrance to the cave system.

One of them moved to a point further away from the others taking up position to cover the others and to keep an eye out for any others who decided to join their party whether they be the enemy or the 'rescue' party that Commander Taylor had left the colony with just a few hours after they had left, she was certain that they would not be here just yet but there was no reason not to be on the guard anyway.

"Sargent Purcell, you and Ward are to search out their communication area and to take that out, it is imperative that they are unable to contact any of their people that they have out on patrol, the last thing we need is for more of them to show up before we are finished. Sergeants McIntyre you and Smythe are to head in a westerly direction once we enter and Bellarius you are to come with me. Is everyone clear on what they have to do?"

Gabriel stared at her team as they digested her orders and nodded once as each of them acknowledge her orders and they prepared to enter the cave system.

"Remember ladies in and out as fast as we can and let's have no problems shall we. The last thing we need is to be captured and then need to be rescued by Taylor and his team. That would really not look good."

Without another word Gabriel and her team minus the one keeping the lookout entered the cave system.

xXx

Wash had managed to get Ryan into a more comfortable position on the floor near the back wall of the cell that she had been in for she did not know how long, she had guessed that weeks if not months must have gone by, by the length of her hair which had grown considerably longer than it normally was and although she had done her best to keep it tidy with it being tied back in a single plait it was still untidy. The first thing she was going to do if they ever got out of here was have it all chopped off.

"How long has it been since I was brought here do you know Marshall?"

"It has been almost a year since the colony was retaken by Commander Taylor and the men under him lieutenant."

Ryan did not feel comfortable with calling Lieutenant Washington anything else, for all she knew he was just another soldier and although he wanted to tell her that he knew he was not sure how she would take the news and if he was truthful to himself he was a little scared of her rejecting him or trying to suddenly play happy families with him just as Commander Taylor had when the man had found out he was his son.

"A year?" Washington's breathe seemed to hitch slightly as his news hit her rather hard; she had not thought it had been that long.

Wash and Marshall looked at each as his news sank in and were unaware that someone had joined them until they heard a clapping noise coming from the direction of the door and the sarcastic words of the Phoenix commander.

"How touching….mother and son reunited."

A/N: What an arsehole the commander is. Now what is going to happen next?