The title is "Water" and the chapter takes place after Lucas was found wounded in the jungle because Skye shot him, so it is the sequel of "Escape"
s/11054169/1/The-things-that-remain
and the prequel of "Sick"
s/11054169/5/The-things-that-remain
Water
(Interlude)
"I'm so tired of being here,
suppressed by all my childish fears.
And if you have to leave,
I wish that you would just leave.
Your presence still lingers here
and it won't leave me alone.
These wounds won't seem to heal.
This pain is just too real."
Evanescence
(Lucas)
When Lucas opens his eyes, his mouth is dry, so dry that he is sure his lips are chapped. For a moment he has no idea where the hell he is. Neon lights, light ceiling, noises.
He turns on his shoulder. A sudden pain stabs him in the collarbone. They shot him. She shot him. Everythingreturns clearly to his mind. The sweat that slid over him, the knife he stuck in the belly of his father, his revenge right there, a step away from him. And then that gun that was pointed at him. Her eyes, the eyes ofhers that he always found hard and full of secrets, and for that so irresistible. The chest pain, the running in the jungle, dinosaurs not met, luckily. Then he must have blacked out.
How long was he unconscious? How long has he been there? It is definitely Terra Nova's hospital, he recognized it because he brought some of the Phoenix soldiers that were injured during the guerrilla warfareof his father's there.
His father.
Why the hell did his father not let him die in the jungle? Why did they bring him there? What do they want?Of course, they will want to know where the Sixers went to and what Mira's plan is. As if he has any idea…
God, he feels so tired. All those years of plotting revenge, surviving in the jungle by any means, eatingworms and trying to stay alive. And for what? To be defeated like an idiot. An idiot who was fooled by an ordinary little girl.
He closes his eyes.
He soon realizes his ankles and wrists are tied to the bars of the bed. Firmly. Obviously my father learns from his mistakes, Lucas thinks.
He then sinks into a heavy sleep full of slimy nightmares that follow him. And they always reach him
(Nathaniel)
The commander of Terra Nova is behind the glass, watching his son sleep. With every breath that he takes,the scars on his chest that are slowly healing hurt. The surgical stitches itch.
Notwithstanding the memory of what his son did to him and the pain that he caused to him, of that knife in the hand of what used to be a little child with messy hair, a quiet teenager that used to follow him wherever he went like a dog, notwithstanding all this, Nathaniel Taylor seems to breathe better while staring at his son, injured yet alive.
He would never forgive Skye for his death. Not after he lost Ayani, his beautiful Ayani. The only right thing thathe ever did.
God, she was so beautiful! And it was beautiful, returning home after a long journey and finding Ayani and Lucas hugging, asleep on the couch while they were waiting for him. He felt so good when he covered them with a blanket. He felt so good, and he used to feel his heart filled with love.
He was home.
The only place where no one wanted to kill him, the only place where there wasn't any enemy to shoot, ordecisions to make, or soldiers to train. He was home.
And then Ayani died. In that horrible way, without mercy, without peace. And it was his fault because he wasn't able to protect her. He wasn't able to protect Lucas.
After all those years passed, trying to remedy his mistakes, he failed again. He wasn't even able to protect Terra Nova when his son tried to destroy them all.
His son went crazy that day, on top of his mother's dead body. Nathaniel wasn't able to reach him, to understand him, that boy that was crazy and a genius at the same time that looked at him with his mother's eyes, if Ayani would ever be able to look at him with such hate.
The commander feels that he has to be the first one to make the first move and to try to save their bond.
Lucas is now his prisoner. He has to be unyielding with him, as though he is an enemy. The people of Terra Nova need justice.
(That night, he dreamed that the settlers kidnapped Lucas and killed him for revenge. He woke up soakedwith sweat, with screams of the crowd in his ears. Nothing like that has to happen. He will set the courts. There are going to be regular trials. There will be no pity for his son, he will be treated like all the other Sixers. But it's his responsibility to avoid lynching. The colonists are angry, too many people died. Only one spark and everything is going to blow up in chaos. He has to keep the situation under his control. But his son has to stay alive.)
Maybe he will be able to talk to Lucas while he is in prison. He can explain everything to him. Maybe he will be able to apologize for his mistakes, for banishing him to the jungle five years earlier. Maybe there is still hope.
He opens the door of the room where Lucas is sleeping. He seems to be in good condition, but he still has afever. His throat must be dry.
Taylor is going to fill a glass of water for him and help him drink. Just like when he was little and he caught that terrible virus. Ayani stayed with him day and night. He was so small and helpless as he slept wrapped up in a blanket while his mother was stroking his forehead.
Lucas opens his eyes. Nathaniel smiles; it's the first time that Lucas is awake after he found him bleeding in the forest, now he can talk to him.
The words of his son after that last and fatal fight echoed in his ears, "It wasn't my fault. Help me!" He hugged him, and he told him that he still was his little boy. Lucas was crying. And then he felt something sharp, like a blade of ice, sink in his guts. God, how much must his son hate him that he would want to stab him?
But that isn't important anymore. Now is time for the two of them to start over.
He opens a bottle of water, and he fills a glass. Lucas doesn't speak. He only stares at him. "You have atemperature, but you are not in danger. We have good doctors here, they saved you," says Nathaniel. "Drink, you need water. I'm sorry for the handcuffs, but you already ran away one time, I can't take any chances." He holds the glass near the lips of his son, who begins to drink. Nathaniel eases a sigh of relief; there seems to be less tension in the room now. Lucas swigs the water, then breathes heavily and slumps down onto the pillow once again. "I'm glad you feel better, Lucas. I… I decided to forgive you for what you did to me."
Lucas smiles. "Water," he asks. Nathaniel fills the glass again and gives it to his son. Lucas drinks eagerly. Droplets of sweat from his fever slip down from his temples.
Then he leans closer to his father, and hespits all the water on Taylor's face.
"Old Man, I don't want your forgiveness. I want my mother back, and Iwant the five years that I spent by trying to survive in the jungle. But I am a man who can appreciate the little things, so for now you can just get your repulsive face out of this room," says Lucas, his voice hoarse with the hatred and contempt he feels.
Nathaniel suppresses the urge to slap him. He wipes the water from his face and walks away.
Outside of the hospital, there is a lot of chaos. One soldier runs to him. "Sir, we found Wash! She is alive!
(Skye)
Skye sees the commander storming out of Lucas's room. She sees the soldiers surrounding Carter, and shesees the woman with the wound on her head that Carter is holding. God, she sees Alicia, and she is alive. Skye cannot believe that. This is the reason why they never found her body.
Lucas has been found, she isn't a killer. Lieutenant Washington is alive and kicking. In the end, everything has turned out well.
Skye rests her head against the wall and breathes heavily.
Her mom was singing that morning while cutting fruit for breakfast. Everything seems to have gone back to normal.
The military occupation of the Phoenix Group left deep wounds at the colony. Dead bodies, injured people, debris and a lot of destroyed houses.
The Sixers gave up. That morning they found them in front of the gates of Terra Nova with their hands up. They lost and were tired; abandoned by their mercenaries, they had no choice but to surrender. A cell is a cell, but at least there will be food and not a jungle infested with dinosaurs.
What will happen to Lucas? He still has a temperature but he is getting better. Will his father kill him? Skye doesn't believe that the commander would be able to do that. But the settlers are angry, very angry. Thatmorning, someone threw stones at the hospital for wasting resources to cure the injured Sixers. Skye does not blame them. There are almost no gauzes and medicine from 2149 is scarce.
Impulsively, Skye enters Lucas's room. She has to change his bandages. She usually waits until he is asleep or sedated, but today she has to sterilize the bandages. Other patients will need them. The situation is becoming so critical that they need to be frugal.
He turns at her, his face is still red from the temperature. Or because he just saw his father. Skye is able to see the anger and disgust still seething in his eyes. "Bucket, my assassin. Really, it's such a luck that your aim is so lousy."
"Trust me, I can do better," she answers.
"You know, Bucket, you are beautiful even with a gun in your hands. In fact, it makes you even more interesting."
Regardless of his compliments, she starts to remove the bandages. Honestly, she thought it would be worse. She thought that Lucas would scream at her, but he is just staring at her with a crooked smile on his lips. Maybe he is too weak to argue, or he has run out of his energy in the confrontation with the commander, whatever happened between them.
No signs of infection. He is healing well.
"Do you know what I missed most while I was in exile in that damn jungle?" says the boy.
"No, but I'm sure that you will tell me."
"Someone by my side whenever I woke up in the middle of night because of my nightmares. I'm so tired ofbeing here, Skye. Don't you want to go home?"
"The portal doesn't exist anymore, 2149 is unreachable. You are stuck here with the rest of us."
"Yeah, one of my father's brightest ideas. God, sometimes it feels like this pain is just too real," he says as he runs his hand trough his hair, exhausted, "There's just too much that time cannot erase."
"What the hell are you talking about? You are healing well," replies Skye, confused.
"I'm talking about soul, Bucket, and about revenge. I will not rest until my mother is avenged. Then I will have peace, then I will win. Did he ever tell you, our dear daddy, how he didn't do anything as he helplesslywatched his wife get ripped apart? I want retaliation."
"You are crazy, Lucas. An obsessed lunatic."
"Oh, really, dear 'sister'? My father was taking care of you for a few years and now you are one of his most avid fans. But trust me, I've known him for much longer, he will never forgive you for being the spy that betrayed the whole colony. He didn't forgive me, his true son. He only knows how to forgive his ownmistakes. Now, if you are done, go away."
"Gladly," she says. But she knows that he is right. The commander still does not look her in the eyes. He is polite, but the old trust between them is gone.
"And tell me, is there anyone in the colony who still talks to you?" Lucas shouts after her while she's walking out, slamming the door.
Damn him.
How can he know? How can he know about the whispers she hears everywhere she goes? About the middle-aged settler who refused to be disinfected by her and it was her shift in the hospital? About the stand at the market at Terra Nova's square that suddenly doesn't have fruit for her and for her mother?
Ungrateful. Damn ungrateful. She did everything possible to protect them, to keep them safe and at the same time save her mother.
She's only seventeen and she doesn't have anyone to talk to. Her friends have turned their backs on she was the spy who was betraying the colony for years. For the gossip that went around during the occupation. It's her fault the brawl was waged at Boylan's, soldiers whispered among themselves. And what did she promise to Lucas Taylor, the mad son of the commander, to make himrelease Josh Shannon? She definitely fucked him, the women whose children Skye was looking after for years say with certainty. The gossip has spread. Sometimes she hears someone whispering "Sixers' slut" behind her back. She turns around no one looks at her.
Skye does not know if that is the reason, but later, when it's night and the hospital is quiet, she returns. Maybe it's for the smoothness of Lucas's skin. For his fingers that run down her back. His touch, histongue that slowly dances with hers. When he enters, it hurts, and she scratches his back. If she has to be called slut, then she wants at least to have some fun.
The next morning, she says that was the last time. It will never happen again. No more wild sex done more for loneliness than love.
But the next night, she is there again.
(Lucas)
As opposed to Skye, Lucas knows exactly why he keeps waiting for her every night, in spite of the insults she hurls at him during the day. It's because of her touch. She caresses him, and Lucas misses someoneto take care of him, someone to love him. He knows he should be satisfied with this only possible substitute, and knows that once he is locked in jail, he will never see her again.
He holds her, her hips, sometimes with too much force as any night might be their last. When sunlightstarts to enter in the room, he sees that he held her too strongly and kisses the bruises that are beginning to draw a map on her fine skin.
"I wish that you would just leave, your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone. These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real," he whispers to wake her.
"Mmpf, what? What did you say?" she mutters, her voice still thick with sleep.
"Nothing, it was just an old song. It's almost dawn, you have to go before the nurses change their shift."
She gets up, takes her clothes and leaves. She doesn't even kiss him.
Lucas remembers the first time that he met her. He blackmailed her, using her mother's life as a guarantee. But the truth was that he would never hurt her mother. Deborah was one of the few people who he could talk toamong the Sixers, people whose personal hygiene was too questionable. He was only bluffing, but he knows that Skye has not forgiven him. She never will.
He knows that what's between them is not love. It has more to do with loneliness, comfort. It's about forgetting for a moment that out there is a whole colony that wants them both to die, who despises them both, even if for different reasons. The spy and the madman.
Skye could release him, let him escape, but she didn't even try and he didn't ask. Now he wishes that he did, because he can her the footsteps of his father's soldiers coming from the hallway. They are coming. It means that they have decided that he is healthy enough to be thrown in a cell.
He will never see her again. That was their last night.
Lucas Taylor, who once had power, the colony of Terra Nova and the destiny of both worlds in his hands, can't help but close his eyes when he hears the door open. He has the time to realize that the sheets stillsmell of her perfume before the soldiers take him. Four soldiers, very young and very hostile.
Welcome to your new life, prisoner of the cell number 14.