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 22

She felt so much better after she had gone to the stream to wash herself and Summer. Now she was trying to get her to stop crying. She knew the soldiers wouldn't be able to stand it much longer and she really didn't want Captain Peirce coming in here. She rocked her arms gently back and forth, she already fed her and changed her, she didn't know what else to do.

Finally she stopped but she was still awake staring up at her. She had never really thought about being a mother before. She didn't play with dolls as a kid; she wore a bucket on her head and pretended a stick was her semi-automatic machine gun. She always wanted to be a soldier. She didn't think about getting married and having a family and she thought about it even less when she lost her dad and spent the rest of her teenage years lying and spying to save her mother.

She loved Lucas but she'd never loved anyone as powerfully as she loved her daughter. It was still strange to say that, this was her daughter, she was a mother now. She smiled at down and looked into her daughters green eyes.

"Skye!" she heard her name and turned around to see Mira in the doorway breathing heavily.

"Mira?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"

"We have to get out of here NOW!" she said intensely running over to her and started throwing things into a bag. "I have to get you both out here" she said when Skye didn't move. "Taylor's coming with an army. He doesn't know you're here and they don't look like they are here to negotiate"

"Lucas" Skye said as her heart beat sped up and she held Summer closer to her chest.

"I have to get you out of here first" She knew she owed Lucas for finishing the equation but she knew even he would want Skye and his daughter safe.

"I know where we can take her" Staff Sergeant Jack Larson said coming inside the room holding his side, his brother James standing next to him. "There's a small path we take we need to get away from Captain Pierce" James said. Mira looked at both of them distrustfully. "I wouldn't be standing here if wasn't for her." Jack told Mira and turned to look Skye in the eyes. "You saved my life, I owe you" he said.

"You're going to need a weapon in case we run into any trouble" Caden said handing Jack and James a gun. Both Caden and Peter stood by the door. "Let's go" they said charging their weapons.

They went out the back entrance, Taylor hadn't reached the camp yet so everyone was going about their usual business. Caden and Peter walked ahead and made sure no one was paying attention and nodded for them follow.

"Lucas, we need to warn him too" Skye said to Mira. They hadn't let her see him since she had the baby.

Mira sighed and looked back towards the camp. "Fine, I'll try and get him." She said. She knew this led down to the sandbank. "Try to get a boat and out onto the water" she told the solders and they nodded. And she ran back towards the camp.

They reached the clearing and ducked down behind the foliage. She looked down at Summer who was awake but staying silent, almost like she knew she had to be quiet. They saw that the second group had just started rowing out into the water. There was only one boat that remained on the shore, with six soldiers loading supplies onto it.

James, Caden and Peter stood up and started walking towards the boat. Suddenly they heard a deafening noise and the ground shook beneath their feet. They all turned to see a fire light up some of the trees as the familiar sound of gunfire filled the air.

Now Summer was crying and Skye had jumped from the hiding spot when she heard the explosion. The other soldiers pulled their weapons. Suddenly gunfire erupted from behind one of them and he fell to the sand with a soft thud. James, Caden and Peter shot three of them and the fifth solider that was on the boat took care of last one. He caught Skye's eyes and she saw that it was Nick.

"Come on" Nick said to them. Skye ran to the boat while trying to calm Summer down.

Lucas was staring down at the paper in front of him seeing all his equations but still unable to make sense of them when he was jolted forward as the whole hut shook. He jumped from his chair and ran to the door that was an explosion. Skye! Summer! Were the only thoughts running through his mind. He tried to open it but it was locked. He rammed his shoulder into a couple times until it busted open.

He had to duck right away as he saw the scene playing out in front him. Gunfire was erupting from all sides; blood soaked the ground as soldiers were running around shooting and looking for cover. He got down on all fours and crawled on the ground. He needed to get the medical hut. He grabbed a gun from a fallen soldier, checked the cartridge and swung the strap over his chest. He stood up and ran to another hut to survey his surroundings. The medical hut was only a few feet in front of him, but soldiers seemed to be coming from every direction.

Mira made it the edge when the battle had begun. She barely had time to jump behind a tree as a bullet sailed past her. There was no way she'd make it to Lucas in time and with all this gunfire he already knew what was happening. He would want her to keep Skye and his daughter safe, so this was how she would repay him so she turned around.

He stayed close to wall of hut and moved around to the back, then ran to the next hut. He peeked around the corner and saw that the coast was clear as it was going to be and he ran through the door.

He was pitched forward by a force from behind and hit the ground hard. He took deep breaths and picked himself up. He wasn't hit but the hut was on fire and smoke was quickly filling the room. "Skye!" he yelled out as he ran to her room.

He looked around everything was on the floor, tables and chairs had been blown through the walls. He coughed as he tried to see through the smoke. "Skye!" he croaked out as he stepped on the debris searching the room. He saw the cradle knocked over and full of bullet holes. His heart skipped a beat as he ran over to it and flipped it over. He let out the breath he had been holding when he was it was empty, the blankets were gone too.

He was relieved that the hut was empty, but where did they go? They couldn't have run out there. Skye wouldn't have risked their daughter's life. His lungs started burning as they filled with smoke; he needed to get out of here. They weren't in here. He made his way to the back door and fell to his knees as his lungs tried to take in fresh air. He needed to keep breathing for them, he needed to find them.

His heart beat like a drum against his chest and he sucked in air, while his hands dug into the dirt. He looked up and through his clouded vision he saw a figure approaching him. He was too weak to go for his weapon, he knew it was foolish because if it were him he would've shot first, but he tried anyway held his hands up in surrender.

He wanted to wipe the tears in his eyes away to see more clearly but he didn't want to make it look like he was going for a weapon. Then he heard his name leave the dark figure's lips.

"Lucas?"

"Dad" Lucas said for the first time in life relieved that it was him. "Skye and Summer, did you find them? Did you save them?" He asked his voice hoarse from not being able to breathe.

"You're here, why are you here?" Taylor asked his mind filling with anguish. Then Lucas' words hit his brain, he had said Skye and "Summer?"

"My daughter, our daughter" Lucas said his anxiety mounting, because he knew what that meant. He hadn't seen them. He stood up unsteadily and started for the jungle.

"Daughter" Taylor repeated his mind trying to comprehend the fact that they were here. Had they been here the whole time? The bright lights of gunfire still saturated the sky, the ground still shook from the explosions and the smell of smoke permeated the air.

He looked at his son whose hair was longer and his beard had grown out and almost matched his own. But what he noticed most was the spark of light behind his eyes that were once filled with so much hatred and darkness. They were filled with anguish for someone other than himself. He wasn't the same man that had stabbed in his gut almost a year ago.

Suddenly Lucas got an idea of where they might've gone and he took off running, his lungs still burning from not getting enough oxygen.

Taylor followed his son who stumbled through the jungle to try to find his daughter and Skye.

Lucas fell and Taylor ran over to him and helped him back, Lucas didn't resist or flinch from his touch. He just looked at him and started running again.

They reached a beach and saw that it looked like a battle had taken place here as well. Five bodies littered the sand. Lucas ran out and looked around. He heard groaning and he ran towards the sound.

He fell to the ground next to the soldier and lifted him by his collar. "Skye, was she one of the boats?" He asked. He understood if she left, she needed to protect their baby. He just needed to know she was okay. The soldier looked at him defiantly. He took out his gun and pressed against his wound, the soldier grimaced in pain. "Was Skye on one of the boats!" He twisted the barrel of the gun until the soldier cried out. He knew this was a trained killer, they were taught how to withstand a certain amount of torture. He needed to try a different tactic. "You're going to beg for mercy if Captain Pierce finds out a woman that had a baby a few hours ago shot you and escaped"

A few hours ago. That news hit Taylor hard, he knew it was a possibility Skye had the baby already, but if he had gotten here a little earlier she would've still been in labor and he could've killed them both.

"She wasn't alone" the soldier managed to spit out through the increasing pain on his open wound.

Lucas wanted to cry, he had seen her, and she was okay. "A woman with a baby overpowered you?"

"No, she had soldiers with her, traitors" He said through gritted teeth.

Lucas moved the gun from his chest to the soldiers head. He held the barrel against it. His breathing was heavy has his heart beat sped up. He wanted to kill him. But he pulled the gun away slowly. A quick death was too good for this man, he'd let him choke on his own blood. Lucas stood up and walked over to the water.

He walked into the water and put his hands to his forehead as he tried to see out. This wasn't so much a beach but a little inlet that forked out into two different directions that led the ocean beyond. He squinted as he saw something moving in the water. He walked over to it; it looked like a piece of cloth tied to a stick. He reached into the water and picked it up. The cloth was a bandana, Mira's bandana. Was she with Skye? Had she come back, is that why Skye was already gone, did Mira warn her and get out her out of there? If she had then he'd be forever grateful to her.

He wouldn't be able to tell which way they went. But he walked out further anyway letting the water come up to his thighs. He felt slightly better that Mira was with her. He never expected to be putting so much trust into Mira. He hadn't expected her trust him either not after the way he treated her previously. Mira had become what he thought was their only ally. But somehow Skye managed to get a few soldiers on her side. He didn't know how she accomplished that. These were killers…like him and they also like him had been drawn to her. She made you want to be on her side, to follow her. She would've made a great General.

He heard splashing behind him as his father joined him in the water. He felt his father put his hand on his shoulder. He didn't move he just stood there staring out at the water.

Tbc…