Consequences and Changes

Every action has a consequence, Skye is about to find out hers and it will change everything. A sequel to Persuasion.

Ch 1

Commander Taylor cracked his neck and stared down with steely intensity contemplating his next move. He happened to take a quick glannce up from the board and saw her staring back at him with hooded eyes, her face in her hand and her elbow resting on the table. He called her name and she didn't reply so he said it louder and she finally looked at him.

"Am I boring you?" he asked semi seriously. She was chess prodigy, a born strategist. Her father had high hopes for her to be the youngest General in the army and she was on her way there before a terrible illness took him from her too soon. After his death she had no interest in joining the military even though her entire schooling prepared her for that life. Chess was her game; she could see the board better than anyone he knew. She could see her opponent's weaknesses and strengths and use that to her advantage. He played her when she's been distracted but she never looked like she could fall asleep right then and there.

"What?" she said in almost dazed whisper then she shook her head. "No, I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping well" Which wasn't entirely true, she just felt tired all the time. She wasn't feeling well either; she was barely eating because everything disgusted her and her body ached like she'd been thrown off Snakehead falls.

She knew she had been working hard. She tried to help with each job that she was trained in. She was doing all of that to show Taylor she was a part of this community to make up for what she did but she was also doing it so she would think about what she did. Every time she saw the small scar on her forehead she remembered. She could hear the gunshots, feel the weight of the gun and the shock from the release, she saw him fall to ground and saw only his shoes sticking up from the grass. She almost sighed in relief when they looked up and he was gone. She hadn't killed him.

Then she remembered the feeling of his skin against hers, the way his lean muscles felt underneath her fingertips, the tingling thrill she felt as he pressed steaming rivulet of languid kisses over her body, his hands skimming and caressing her breasts and stomach, his lips following. She remembered the mounting, pulsing tension flow between them at the place where their bodies joined. She became lost in him. Until she didn't know where he ended and she began. Didn't know who was leading and who was following, who was pushing and who was pulling. She recalled his deep cries of ecstasy that matched her own. It sent her insides whirling. She couldn't forget, she didn't want to forget.

"Have you gone to the infirmary, maybe they can give you something to help you sleep" he suggested. These past five weeks had taken a toll on everyone, rebuilding the colony, rationing the food they had left and just trying to get things back to normal. He knew that Skye had taken on more than anyone, trying to earn back his trust all while taking care of her sick mother. So if she was tired he understood why. "Do you want to pick this up another day?"

"Yea, that sounds good" she nodded hoping her cheeks weren't as flushed as they felt. She shouldn't be thinking of him, not when she was with the father he tried to kill. Skye rubbed her hand over her face and stood up. She must've done it too fast because she suddenly felt light headed and had to steady herself on the table.

"Skye?" Taylor asked with concern in his voice.

"I'm fine" She replied and looked him in the eyes and smiled at him. She wasn't fine but she didn't want Taylor to have to worry about her. He had enough to worry about with the entire colony looking to him to keep them safe now that they no longer had access to the future. "I'm good" she said and gingerly took a step forward.

Taylor not satisfied with her answer watched her walk away from him. He saw her stumble and was at her side he yelled "Skye!" as she collapsed in his arms.

"What happened?" she asked drowsily.

It had only been a few seconds but it had scared him to death. "You fainted, so I'm taking you to the infirmary" He saw her begin to protest. "There is no discussing this" he told her firmly. "Can you walk?"

"Yea" She said and he helped her stand. She was still unsteady on her feet so he kept his arm securely around her waist.

Dr. Shannon looked up when she saw them. Skye was leaning into Taylor chest as she half walked and he half carried her, worry stretched across her features. She ran over to them. "What happened?"

"I'm fine…" Skye began to say.

"She's not fine, she fainted" Taylor told Elizabeth Shannon and she saw the worry in features as well.

"Ok, let's get her into an exam room" she said and led them to an empty room. She closed the curtains while Taylor helped Skye on the bed. "You fainted?" She asked the young woman as she got comfortable on the bed.

"I stumbled and just fell" Skye replied. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at that. "Ok, I guess I fainted. I'm tired that's all" She didn't like having people fuss over her. She was fine, just tired. She didn't need to be here when there were others that needed real help. During her shift this morning she must've wrapped a hundred bandages on colonist that hurt themselves with construction tools and machines they didn't know how to use properly. She worked with the construction crew and tried to train people, it took her a few months to get the hang of some of the equipment, but with only a thousand people left they couldn't afford to have a full on training session.

"Tired, have you been having trouble sleeping?" Dr. Shannon asked as she went to get the scanner. She knew Skye had a lot on her plate. She appeared to be trained in a little bit everything but that didn't mean she had to do everything. On top of that she had to take care of her mother who was still so weak. She and Malcolm were trying to make a cure from the powder Curren brought back but they were unsuccessful thus far. The medicine was keeping her alive but it wasn't getting rid of the virus.

"Sort of" Skye replied timely and looked at Taylor who was standing by her bedside. Elizabeth also looked at him hoping he'd get the hint.

He did. "Right, there are some things I have to take care of" he said "I'll check back on you later, okay?" he asked her as he was leaving. Skye nodded her head.

"Have you just been feeling tired or is there more?" Elizabeth asked when Taylor left. "If we are going to find out what's wrong. You need to tell me. Scanners can only do so much only you know what's going on with your body"

Skye sighed. "I feel like I've been running a marathon"

"You've been doing a lot, if your muscles are sore it's understandable" Elizabeth said with a smile as she set the scanner up and pressed the button. A hologram of Skye's body appeared hovering above her.

"Yeah" Skye replied.

Elizabeth looked over the scanner pressing buttons on her plex, first checking the muscles. Everything looked fine there. She then pressed some more buttons and looked back at the scan. Her breath hitched by what she saw.

"What?" Skye asked noticing the change in Dr. Shannon's posture.

Elizabeth looked down at the young woman. "Skye…" she said hesitantly. "You're pregnant"

"What?" An alarmed gruff voice said from the doorway. They both looked over to see that Taylor had returned to the room. He left to see if he could get someone to help Skye with her mother for a couple hours a day. He found someone and was just going to tell her that when he heard what Dr. Shannon told her.

Elizabeth looked back at Skye. The young woman bowed her head and took deep breaths. Elizabeth couldn't bring herself to look back at Commander Taylor but she could feel the intensity flowing off of him making it feel like the temperature had dropped ten degrees. Skye looked at her and nodded her head, telling her she should leave. "…I will...go get you some things that you will need." She said and left. She didn't want to leave her alone but it wasn't her place to stay. This was something they needed to talk about.

Skye bowed her head again. When she looked up Taylor was pacing by her bedside. He looked at her, his mouth opened but no words came out and it closed again. Then he'd turn his back towards her. She wasn't naïve enough to not think that this was a possibility she was just hoping it wasn't. She was late but she convinced herself that it was the stress. But now she had to face the truth, all her symptoms added up to that conclusion.

Nathanial Taylor rubbed his hand over his face; this is not what he expected to deal with. He thought she was just stressed by everything that's happened. He wasn't expecting to hear that…that. He couldn't even bring himself to finish his thought. He didn't want to think about it. He sighed and looked at her. He was having trouble forming words. "The father?" he finally managed to ask, not sure he wanted to hear which one of the people living here…was…had…

It startled her a little when he finally spoke; his voice was gruff and hard when he asked the question she knew would be the first. The question she didn't want to answer. She was hoping no one would ever know what she did, that it would stay between him and her, but she was stupid and didn't think it through. Using protection was the last thing on her mind. She knew Lucas would've killed Josh if she hadn't done anything and now she wouldn't be able to hide it, everyone would know what she did, what they did.

Her breath hitched as she felt the tears start to well in her eyes. "…he was going to…kill Josh; I couldn't let him…hurt anyone because of me. He wouldn't let go…Josh shouldn't have…." the tears spilled from her eyes now. "I knew what he wanted…"

Taylor stepped backwards as her words sunk in. His hands went to his hair, the back of his head and in front of his face. He didn't know what to do with them as he realized who Skye was talking about. "Lucas" his voice croaked out his son's name.

Skye nodded as her face scrunched up with tears streaming down her face.

Taylor again was at a loss for words. He didn't have time to deal with this now. There was too much work to do, getting units ready to visit the Badlands, the colony still needed to be cleaned up. He needed to think of ways to take care of the mercenaries guarding the Badland, so that's what he was going to do. He couldn't allow himself to think of anything else. He couldn't bring himself to look at her so he turned around and walked out.

"Taylor!" she cried out in a chocked sob. "I'm sorry"

"Don't leave me!" He heard her cry out and he stopped by the curtain. He closed his eyes, opened them and kept walking.

Tbc…