A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews, especially those of you that I can't personally reply to. It means a lot that you stayed with this story over 6 years since I started publishing. You are awesome fans! I apologize but I was really stuck on a part of this chapter.
Warning this chapter starts off with a strong T. No beta so mistakes are all mine.
"Hey," Raven called to the young soldier walking sentry duty. "Did an angry, redhead come this way?" He knew she did, but wasn't sure if the soldier saw her. The young man's observation skills weren't as honed as they should be. Carter'll need to spend more time training these young ones.
"Yeah," he replied. "Said she'd rip out my liver if I tried to stop her."
Raven laughed. The first gut-wrenching laugh he'd had in a long time. "And I'll rip out the rest of your organs if you follow us."
The soldier chuckled until he noticed that Raven wasn't laughing any longer.
"Don't come after us." Raven turned down the path made by Kathy crashing through the underbrush. "No matter what you hear."
"Katherine?"
"Go away." Her body language told him to back off.
"Katherine, I need to apologize," he said, softly as he began to unbutton his jacket.
"Go. To. Hell." Fire flew from her eyes as she rounded on him. "You come here… Lying through your teeth. You made me… I was gonna…" She stopped and started pacing.
Raven continued to unbutton his jacket.
"What are you doing?" She stopped and crossed her arms over her heaving chest.
He pulled his jacket off and laid it carefully on the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm going to break a promise, so I apologize."
"What promise?" Kathy raised her brows.
"The one where I said that the first time I made love with you that I'd take my time. Go slow. Methodical."
The sound of their breathing was all that filled the clearing. Raven's eyes didn't stray from Kathy as he closed in on her. A roar echoed through the jungle, causing Kathy to flinch.
"Just young dinosaurs on the prowl." Raven stopped a few feet in front of Kathy.
It was impossible to tell who broke the battle for dominance first. One moment two immovable objects stared at one another and the next they were one object in full motion. The juvenile dinosaurs, mating in the valley around them, couldn't keep up with the carnal appetites unleashed between this man and woman. Clothing was torn. Hands grasped. Lips searched for flesh that had not yet been kissed. Bodies joined. Cries of hunger turned to moans of ecstasy, which in turn became sated sighs.
"Chris…"
"No time for words," he said, silencing Kathy with a long, hot kiss and easily yanked her on top of him. "Only action."
Will observed several glum faces as he secured his knife in his boot. It was impossible not to have an ear-to-ear grin after sleeping with his wife in his arms and his children by their side. His grin got even wider as he noticed the bump in Abby's shirt; their child growing inside her womb. "I love you guys, but you know I can't sit around while others are put into danger."
"We know that." Abby took the hand of the newest member of the Terra Nova family, the silent, sad-eyed girl from the 11th pilgrimage. Abby had a calm presence with children and, as Will suspected, the girl was drawn to her immediately.
"I could have volunteered to go to Hope Plaza, but I didn't," he said, looking at Jay.
"Raven and Mister Shannon got that covered," Jay stated.
"I could wrangle Carnotaurs but… been-there-done-that." Will flashed his cockiest grin.
"You still have to tell us about the time you, the Commander and Lieutenant Washington got the skull for the Command Center table," Jess scolded.
"And I will, but after I steal a couple trucks."
"I'm not sure the kids should think stealing is okay," Abby said quietly.
"They were probably our trucks to start with," Jay said.
"Not ours, but the people who Phoenix forced to come with them." Will looked toward the tent housing the dozen miners they captured.
"Mount up!" Taylor yelled as the Carno team went to their motorcycles and rovers.
"I need to get my team together." Will dropped to a knee in front of Jay and Jess. "I need you guys to keep watching out for your aunt, like you've been doing. Okay?"
"Sure, Dad.." Jess started.
"We'll watch out for Mom." Jay finished.
"What?" Abby couldn't prevent the tears from flowing.
"Jess. Jay." Will pulled his kids into a hug. "I love you so much."
Abby dropped down and slid her arms around her family. Tears continued to pour down her face as she echoed Will's words. "I love you too."
"Well, look how the mighty have fallen," Curran said to the passenger in the truck.
Will walked toward the front vehicle after he and Reynolds secured the second truck. The convoy of two was moving slowing through the carnotaurus-rich area. They only needed one truck, but two would be find. Especially since there would now be two containers to send to the portal- one with the carnotaurus and Shannon. Raven could go in the second one with the bomb and meteoric iron. Not having both men in one container would increase their odds of success.
"Hey, Carter, you will not believe your luck today," Curran called, a smirk spread over the younger man's face.
Will narrowed his eyes and picked up the pace as a wailing voice shouted No from inside the cab. It was whiny voice full of terror that Will instantly recognized.
In four quick strikes he covered the distance to the front of the truck. When he looked inside, he found two terrified blue eyes staring at him from above a bandaged nose. His hands shot through the open window, grabbing Kyle Porter by his jacket, yanking him through the window and tossing him to the ground.
"Yup, really isn't your day, Porter," Curran sneered.
"Reynolds! Dunham!" Will shouted. "Take the second truck and get back to base."
"Looks like Carter's going to have some fun with you," Curran stated.
Kyle Porter, abuser of the woman Will loved, lay prostrate on the ground before him. "No! Please, don't!"
"Don't what?" Will growled. His entire body shook with rage. All the threats he made to Porter came out, laced with more profanity that he'd uttered since falling in love with Abigail. He yanked Porter up and detailed how to skin something while it was alive.
Tears poured from Porter's eyes. "You won't kill Jessica and Jason's father, will you? They'll be orphans."
"You have never been their father!" Will tossed the pathetic man back, so he banged into a tree and then slumped to the ground. "Besides, they have a family. Abby and I were married yesterday, and Jay and Jess are now our kids."
"Carter?" Reynolds said from behind Will.
He turned and saw a frightened pair of eyes looking back at him. "I told you and Dunham to leave."
"What are you going to do?" the young, Corporal asked.
Will turned to Porter. "Get up!"
"P-please! I'll do anything! You already have my family…"
"Get up!" Will's voice echoed through the forest and was answered by the roar of a dinosaur.
Porter scrambled to his feet, stumbling several times. He looked to Reynolds, Dunham and Curran for sympathy and found none.
"Kyle Porter," Will said, drawing the terrified man's eyes to his.
"Please!"
"You are guilty of physically and psychologically abusing my wife." He spoke with certainty in a low voice.
"B-but Abigail was strong. She…"
"Don't say her name." He moved swiftly. With his arm under Kyle's chin, he pushed the quivering man up the tree, so their eyes were even. "You are guilty for abandoning Abigail, Jay and Jess in the jungle to die. You are guilty of collaborating with the Sixers and, therefore, responsible for all the death they caused. You are guilty of the death of all the Sixers who left the safety of Terra Nova for the dangerous jungle."
Kyle whimpered. His face turned a light shade of blue, so Will dropped him. He was sobbing uncontrollably at the base of the tree.
"You are guilty of the murder of Sergeant Olivia Fernandes and," Will paused for he had been intimate with Susan long ago. "Susan Warren."
A wail issued from the quivering man on the ground. Will felt a calm settle over him. His heart slowed and his body stopped shaking with rage. "The punishment in Terra Nova for murder is banishment."
Kyle's head snapped up. "No! That's a death sentence."
"Yes," Will said, shaking his head. "It is." He turned and motioned to the stunned soldiers around him. "Let's go."
"You're just leaving him here?" Curran asked. The shock evident in his voice.
"You're right. I forgot something." Will turned, pulling his large knife from his boot and throwing it at Kyle.
A dinosaur matched Kyle Porter's high-pitched scream. It was now closer than when Carter shouted.
Will walked over to Porter and knelt before him. "If you can get the knife out of the tree, you've got a weapon."
He stood and walked away.
"Why? I thought you'd gut him alive?" Reynolds asked as they got to the trucks.
"I wanted to." Will looked at the three confused young men. "But I'm a father now. I want my kids to grow up in a society of laws. Laws that apply to everyone."
TBC
A/N: This was huge for me. I know some will be upset that Will didn't filet Kyle, but he's a changed man. Being a father is something he's going to take seriously and killing a weaker man in cold blood didn't feel right. This moral dilemma kept me from publishing for at least 6 months. Thanks to NurseKelly for getting me over my stumbling block. I hope you all enjoy.
I have a question, I'd love for some of you to answer. When you read this story, what actors/actresses do you picture as Will and Abby I don't have any in mind, but I'd love to know your thoughts.