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A New Beginning	By : MarianTheBlackadder Category: S through Z > Terra Nova Views: 2105 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Terra Nova characters, places, or copywrites. I make no money from writting this and it is for pure enjoyment of the writter and the readers of the Terra Nova FanFiction Fandom.

Chapter List
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Macabre

            Taylor stood at his window in silence having listened to the whole report from Wash, Shannon and Malcolm. All of whom were uneasy by his lack of reaction to what had happened.

            "How is Rayne?" Was all he said to break the silence never turning his gaze from the window.

            They looked at each other and Shannon was the one to answer, "Elizabeth said she's fine, she's going to keep her over night so she can rest. Rayne doesn't remember a whole lot of what happened, she was pretty out of it."

            There was another long uneasy silence before Malcolm spoke, "I’ve had her lab completely fumigated, the air run through the filters on a circular pattern to scrub it clean of everything. Just to be on the safe side."

            "Wash?" The Commander said, "You alright?"

            "Yes sir." She answered, "I was only exposed for a few minutes, it had no affect on me."

            Another eerie moment of silence passed through the room before Taylor finally turned and looked at the three of them. "Where is he?" It was the big question they feared from the moment they knew what had happened.

            "He's in a secure place." Shannon said.

            Taylor looked directly at him, "A secure place? What does that mean?"

            "He's under guard, off colony sure. Given the nature of his crime we thought it best . . ." Washington started to explain but Taylor raised his voice.

            "I don't believe any of that was the answer to the question I asked, Lt." Taylor was starting to get annoyed. "Just who decided 'it was best'?"

            "I did, Sir." Shannon said calling attention back to himself. "In a case like this it's best if the prisoner is kept under guard in an undisclosed location until it's decided what's to be done with him . . ."

            "I'll tell you what's to be done with him. Skinned alive after his manhood is severed and shoved down his throat, that's what's to be done with him." Taylor said his temper starting to flare.

            "That is exactly the reason he's been put in protective custody, Taylor. You are to close to the victim and cannon have any say in what his fate is." Shannon said. "Now he may have intended to harm Rayne, but he didn't. Wash and Malcolm got there in time to put a stop to it."

            "Oh. Well you'll pardon me if I don't believe sheer dumb luck was the only reason my wife wasn't violated to be a reason for him to get off with a warning." Taylor stated in a stern tone trying to control his temper but he was quickly losing the battle. "What if no one had gotten there in time to help her? If he had time to cover his tracks? Did that thought ever even enter into your heads? What the colony would think, what I would think had happened and she'd never be able to prove otherwise!?"

            "We are not defending him or what he did, Commander. We're looking out for you and your best interest." Washington said seriously. "How can you hope to keep order if the example you set is to only follow the rules when it suits you?"

            "My personal involvement in this matter doesn't even enter into it, there is no place in this colony for scum like him." Taylor roared.

            "Then banishment is the only option there is, it's what is set out in the bylaws. But it's the colony that has to agree to it, it can't be your decision alone." Shannon said. "I know you want to rip him apart with your bare hands right now, who wouldn't in your place? But once you have time to calm down and think this through, you'll see that I'm right."

            Taylor just starred at the three of them a moment deep down knowing they were probably right but still incredibly enraged at all that had happened without his knowledge. "You better keep him under lock and key and keep a tight watch on him at all times. If he escapes, that's the last anyone is ever going to hear of that bastard." It was the last word he had on the matter, before leaving his office to go check on Rayne.

            Wash, Malcolm, and Shannon all let out their breath once he'd gone, looking at each other. Malcolm shook his head and left going back to the lab to take some readings to make sure they didn't miss anything and to check on the animals as well to make certain they didn't suffer any adverse effects to the exposure.

            Shannon sighed looking at Wash, "So. Killed while trying to escape?" He asked.

            "Looks like that's going to be the best that we can hope for." Wash admitted.

            Shannon sighed, "What a mess. The thing is, I can't even blame him. Rayne trusted him thinking he was a friend, and this is what he does?"

            "There's always been something about him since he got here. Taylor knew it. It seemed like he'd gotten worse about it after coming back in from the field." Wash replied.

            "Was there anything before this? I mean was there anything to make him imagine she was leading him one?" Shannon asked.

            The Lt. shook her head, "No. Rayne has always been very clear on the boundaries between them since day one that they were friends only. She's completely devoted to Taylor, you know that. She told him that anything between them was long done before she even came through the portal. Taylor and Jason had come to blows over her at least once before."

            Shannon looked at her, "Really? I didn't know about that."

            "Probably because it was never reported. Jason started it, Taylor finished it, and Rayne was mad at them both." Washington simplifying the entire situation.

            "You know, of all the reason people come back here for, did the Commander's wife have to be his only goal?" Shannon asked.

            "Always has to be something to disrupt things, you should know that very well by now." She answered.

Back Home Again

            "I'm sorry." Rayne said in a soft voice.

            Taylor looked at her a little confused, "What the hell are you apologizing to me for? You're the one that was attacked."

            "I spoke for him, i defended him. You were right." She confessed feeling foolish.

            "You thought he was a friend." Taylor said walking over sitting down next to her. "You couldn't have predicted he'd do something like this." He rubbed her back seeing how miserable she was.

            "Did you kill him?" She asked afraid of what the answer might be.

            "No, not yet." He answered quite seriously.

            "Nathaniel." She said knowing what his first instinct was going to be when he found out what had happened and why. "You can't just kill him."

            "He actively goes out of his way to manipulate you into bed with chemicals, attacks my wife and unborn child, and you expect me not to walk up and down his ass with my size 12 combat boot?" Taylor said. "Come on, honey. What do you want from me?"

            "You think I liked being taken advantage of like that by a close friend? Of course I want him to pay for what he did, but not at the expense of you or your reputation that you need to run this colony." Rayne said. "You have to be able to keep the peace, and maintain order. You can't do that if people won't follow you."

            "Everyone is acting like I’m the bad guy here. I'm not. I'm the husband, and I think the husband deserves some justice." The commander said frustrated. Rayne looked at him a moment before she motioned for him to come back to her.

            "Come here." She said. Taylor sighed, "Come on." She said. He gave in and moved back to the foot of the bed sitting down with her. Rayne took his hand and placed it over the large swell of her abdomen. After a moment there was a hard kick, and then another. Taylor's eyes went wide lighting up keeping his hand in place feeling the baby kick again. Rayne laughed a little seeing the child like look on his face and soon Taylor was smiling too. "That's why you can't lose your head over this." She said softly. "We need you." He looked up at her and gave a nod before reaching up placing his fingertips to her cheek and kissing her deeply. His fingertips traveled down her neck to her shoulder, and they kissed again.

Visitation

            Rayne walked into the cell, guards at the door. Taylor came in with her but stayed at the door to let her talk to the prisoner as requested, even though he was against it from the moment she asked.

            Jason was sitting on a bench he had been hand cuffed to. Rayne moved a chair in front of him and sat down, never moving her gaze from him. "You know there was a time when I trusted you with my life." Rayne said.

            "You still can." Jason said scooting forward on the bench as much as he could. Rayne could see the look in his eyes, a look of a man who really believed the bazaar words he was saying to her.

            Rayne looked around the cell, "You've been treated well." She said changing the subject.

            Jason looked towards the door where Taylor was standing pacing slightly like a hungry wolf. "IF you could call this good treatment. The Commander over there hasn't given me a moments peace."

            "Nathaniel hasn't laid a hand on you." Jason looked at her, "IF he had, you'd be dead." She said letting him know he wasn't getting much sympathy from her on any count. Rayne was having a hard time wrapping her mind around this and she just wanted to understand. "Why did you do this Jason? Do you have any idea the level of depravity it takes to do something like this?" She asked.

            "Rayne, I did it for us. To make you see the truth. We were meant to be together, you know that deep down, I know you do. You've just been fooled and charmed into thinking you love him, that you're someone different, but I know who you really are." He said.

            She wasn't grasping this. She was sitting right in front of him, she heard his words, she was watching them come from his lips, but her mind just didn't seem to wrap around it. "I am in love with Nathaniel, Jason. My heart, my soul, my body belongs to him. We are married. I am carrying his child within me." She said putting her hands over her abdomen.

            "And I forgive you for all of that." He said reaching for her but the handcuffs stopped him short. "We all make mistakes, Rayne. It doesn't matter. Accidents like this happen all the time, I don't blame you for it." He said motioning to her pregnant belly.

            Rayne was quiet and awe struck still unable to comprehend this. A man that she knew for so long, and had shared part of her life with, and had trusted, and she was looking into the eyes of a complete stranger. Someone she didn't know at all. She didn't know how to make any sense of it, and when he called her baby an accident, she was done trying. "Commander Taylor has given his word that he will not lay a hand on you until your judgment." She stood up and punched him so hard it nearly knocked him off the bench. "I didn't make any such promises."

            With that she turned and walked out. Taylor just starred at Jason another moment having heard everything that was said before leaving as well, the guards locking up the prisoner tight.

            Jason reached up touching his face where he'd been hit before spitting some blood onto the floor.

Strong Arm

            "Doctor Shannon, I respect you as a professional. You are an amazing and exceptional Doctor. The best I have ever seen, hands down. But you are no psychologist, and I don't want your personal opinion getting out and stirring up sympathy for that son of a bitch." Taylor said blatantly.

            "You don't think that it would stir up that much sympathy and affect the judgment do you? Commander, I just think we need to do a full study to see if his time out in the field prompted some sort of psychosis." Elizabeth said.

            "Well yeah, Doc. I've seen soldiers lose their never at the thought of being left out there in the jungle by themselves. But that doesn't make someone attack a woman inside and out like he did. An extensive amount of thought and planning went into this.

            "I realize that, but . . ." Elizabeth started to say but the Commander stopped her having heard enough of her pitch.

            "You have kids, Dr. Shannon. Two daughters, Maddy and Zoey." She quieted looking at him. "You want a man like him inside the walls of this colony with your girls? Even locked up?" She couldn't answer as she was now looking at this through the eyes of a mother instead of a scientist. "Then why do you imagine, I want him around my wife and little girl?" He stood from his desk and walked around it standing before her. "Get rid of these," He said handing the data card back to Elizabeth, "and all related files. They aren't going to do anyone any good."

Trials

            After all the facts had been presented, Taylor stepped forward to speak finally given the chance to speak out about the travesty that had taken place. Jason was nearby, well guarded and in cuffs, Rayne stood on the deck near the door of Taylor's office.

            "As the head of security here in Terra Nova, and because it was my wife and my unborn child that was maliciously attacked against her will, this decision cannot rest with me. It must rest with all of you. I cannot make this decision for you. The bylaw says banishment. Out into the wild never to cross our gates again for any reason. If your choice is not to stick to the letter of the law in this case, that means confinement. That even though he'd be kept under lock and key he would still be among us. Your wives, your daughters, your sisters, your mothers. There is no place for people like this in Terra Nova. The sort of depraved, twisted mind it takes to commit such a vile and degrading act like this. It's one of the many reasons we left 2149. To get away from such savagery. To make a better society, one that is safe for our families and for our children. Now, My wife has not asked for any sort of special considerations, or leniency to be shown in your decision. Neither do I. You all know that she is nearly 8 months pregnant with our daughter, and can understand our outrage at such a heinous crime. My outrage. But this is not up to me. It's up to all of you. You must vote the way you believe, the way your conscious dictates."

            Having said his peace, he stood back and Shannon stepped forward having been conducting and overseeing everything as the peace officer of terra nova. "Everyone here over the age of 18 is to vote yes or no for banishment. This is a secret vote, and you will not be judged either way. A yes supports banishment from the colony, a No vote supports confinement." He repeated and then it began as the soldiers began moving through the crowd to distribute voting materials.

            Rayne was feeling ill to her stomach about all of this and even though he'd clearly lost is mind, she couldn't help but feel regret that things had gone so far. Taylor went over and wrapped his arm around her taking her into his office away from the shuffle.

            Jason watched them disappear, and it almost seemed like he didn't care what the verdict was either way. He was still squarely focused on Rayne.

            "What's going to happen?" Rayne said when Taylor came back from getting her some water handing her the glass.

            "I really don't know honey. People can be a bit funny when it doesn't happen to them." He answered honestly, "They're a bit removed from it so they can think they're being objective about it." Reaching up he touched her face, "How you feeling today? You look a little pale."

            "She kind of kept me up all night." Rayne said putting her hands over her stomach. "Or I kept her up. Sort of a coin flip about that there.

            "The Doc said that you both need rest." He reminded her for the millionth time.

            "Well, a lot of stuff has been going on around here. It's hard to just forget about all of it and relax." She looked at Taylor and smiled a little, "I'm so proud of you, Nathaniel. You've been handling all this so well."

            "IT's taking a tremendous amount of self restraint beyond even I knew existed." He said. She chuckled a little and rubbed his arm.

            "Sir," Wash said coming in the door, "The last vote just came in."

            Taylor gave a nod and looked at Rayne. "You don't have to be there for this." She didn't say anything as her eyes turned downward. He patted her thigh understanding, then stood and followed Wash out onto the deck.

            Rayne listened and finally heard Shannon call out the numbers, she closed her eyes and her head dropped hearing the news.

            "The Majority votes banishment, by a landslide." Taylor said. Then he turned his attention towards Jason, "The Colony and it's inhabitants have spoken. You are not welcomed or wanted in Terra Nova. I hereby pass this judgment of banishment upon you Jason Lee Alexander. You are never to come by here, or to cross those gates again."

Sleepless

            Rayne sat at the window starring out into the jungle by the moon light that cast an eerie glow over the country side. When Taylor rolled over reaching for her in the darkness, he found he was lying there alone.

            Getting out of bed he went out and found her in the next room on the window seat. Walking over still half asleep himself he rubbed his eyes, "Couldn't sleep?" He asked sitting down next to her.

            There was a familiar guilt ridden look on her face, "What if it was my fault?" She said softly.

            "Come again?" He said looking at her.

            "It was my idea to send him out there on that expedition. He'd hardly logged any field time OTG at all. He'd never gotten lost away from the group if I hadn't sent him." Rayne said looking out at the silent green canopy. A occasional bird call breaking the silence in the distance.

            Taylor sighed slightly as he hadn't lost a moments sleep over Jason's banishment. "Don't do this to yourself, Rayne." he said seriously. "You have to accept that he isn't who you thought he was. You didn't make him drug you, or attack you in your lab. You didn't make him come here in the first place. he had the same hence as everyone else who walks through the portal. To co-exist here as a decent, hard working human being. He couldn't do that." Taylor explained.

            "But maybe it was some sort of sickness. Maybe if he had undergone treatment . . . ." She started to say.

            “OH, God Rayne." Taylor said standing starting to get really frustrated as soon as he was on his feet. "You read that damn report of Dr. Shannons."

            "What if she was right?" Rayne asked.

            "The man tried to rape you." Taylor said raising his voice as it seemed to be a fact that everyone commonly forgot. "Actually rape wasn't good enough for him, oh no. He had to turn you into some bitch in heat so you couldn't even control your own mind and body!"

            Rayne just stared at him a moment, "What did you just call me?" She asked in shock.

            Taylor realized that probably wasn't the best choice of words in his vocabulary. "I wasn't . . . . i should have said dog. Like a dog in heat."

            "How is that better?" She asked still shocked.

            "I wasn't calling you anything, I just . . ." He sighed and walked over sitting down next to her again. "Look, you gotta let this go, baby. He broke the law, and the law dealt with him. We send him out with a sonic and a survival kit, and he didn't deserve that much for what he'd done. Now you're safe." He placed his hand on her abdomen. "The baby's safe, and we should all be in bed." He said resting his head to hers. Rayne sighed a little and gave a nod. Taylor kissed her cheek, "Come on," he said standing to her feet.

Labor Pains

            Taylor paced the deck outside his office, before sitting down taking a drink from his cup Jim came up by the stairs saying hello to a guard on the way by. "Commander," Shannon said taking the seat opposite him, "I Thought I'd come by and see how you were holding up?"

            Taylor gave him a look as though he didn't know what he was talking about. "Nothing’s bothering me. How are you?" Shannon just gave him a look with a small smile and Taylor just dropped the act. "Am I that transparent?"

            "Any man who says he isn't anxious on the day his kids are born, is a liar." Jim stated having had three of his own. One illegally.

            "Yeah well." Taylor sighed, "You'd think with all this technology we brought back from the future we could speed this up a mite."

            "Elizabeth will be the first to tell you that these things can't be rushed." Jim assured him. "She's sorry she had to kick you out of the delivery room by the way."

            "I was apparently 'in the way' whatever that means." Taylor grumbled.

            "Too many people giving orders, but she said she'll call you back when it's time." Jim looked at his watch. "How long has it been?"

            "6 hours, 22 minutes, 11 seconds." Taylor replied instantly without having to look at anything. Jim just smiled. Taylor was quiet a moment as the past was on his mind as well, not just what was happening now. "You know when Lucas was born, his mother had some kind of complication, leaving us unable to have any more children. I came close to losing them both. I'd never felt fear and helplessness like that before. But they came through it and when they handed me my son, my baby boy . . . he insistently became he and his mothers whole world. He meant everything to us. He was why I fought, why I lived, why I would have died if necessary. Me and his mother loved him with every last ounce of our being." He smiled at the memory, but it soon faded. "But something went wrong along the way. First I lost Ayonie . . . then Lucas was never the same after that. My family was gone. I thought that was the end of everything family related for me. My whole life, my whole existence was meaningless."

            Jim was quiet for a moment, "Then there was Rayne." He said in an attempt to push Taylor into the now.

            "Yeah," He said a small smile returning, "First time we locked horns was two days after she got here. She stood in there right before my desk, hand cuffed and guarded. There hadn't been any survival training yet, no orientation, nothing but a knife, pair of shorts, take top, and a scrunchy holding her hair up off her face. Two days and she looked like some sort of jungle woman. She'd climbed a fence and went into the jungle bringing back several serpent like things with her. Looked like some kind of huge salamander or something with very large teeth. She was brought to my office, having given some guards a hard time about bringing her in at all. And Malcolm was having an absolute coronary."

            "Of course he was." Having to have gotten to know Malcolm for a few years now.

            "Within a week of several more similar incidents, she came to the conclusion that I was a megalomaniac with delusions of Godhood, and I was of the opinion that she was a tree hugging pain in my ass." Taylor said remember how they were and couldn't help but laugh at it now. "Not positive how or when that all changed, but I love that woman. I couldn't imagine the rest of my life without her being a part of it. Today, she's bringing our child into this world, this new place of second chances and hope. IF that isn't the most profound kind of love, I don't know what is."

            "Sir," A nurse said coming up the steps "Dr. Shannon wants you in the delivery room, right now." Instantly Taylor was up and halfway down the stairway nearly mowing down the nurse as he flew by.

Families

            "We still haven't decided on a name." Taylor said leaning over Rayne and looking at their sleeping little girl. She was so perfect, so delicate.

            "I had an idea about that." Rayne said softly holding her baby closer.

            "Oh yeah?"

            "I thought Willow." She began, "For her first name."

            "Willow." he repeated trying it on for size. "Yeah, I like that. Willow Taylor."

            "Willow . . . Ayani Taylor." Rayne said softly not certain what reaction he was going to have to that.

            Taylor looked at Rayne and smiled before kissing her cheek and putting his arms around them both. "Thank you sweetheart." He said kissing her again as he held them both an his tight embrace. Rayne smiled glad he was happy with her wanting to name their daughter for his late wife, who had died so that their son might live. "My beautiful girls." He said with a grin as they both loving looked at their newborn child, beaming new parents.

News Travels Fast

            "Willow Ayani Taylor." Lucas said the words dripping like venom off his tongue. He half smiled finding it all very ironic. "That brazen, black-widow of a WHORE!" He roared in an outrage that she would hang his mother's name on her brat. And he let her do it. He LET her do it!"

            "She was born two days ago. Both are fine and healthy. They were moved back to Taylor's quarters today according to our spy." Sitting nearby was Jason having been with Lucas when the news came and just listened. Lucas continued to stew in anger, then amusement, then straight back to rage. "Lucas, I need our spy to give us information on convoys and supply runs. Is this really a good use of our resources?"

            "If you ever want to get back to the future, I’m your only hope of achieving that goal is through me. You bring me the information I want, or you'll be left behind never to see your precious daughter again." He said nearly shouting at her. Mira quieted not want to cross him. She knew he'd gone insane a long time ago. Lucas turned and seemed to gain some amount of control of himself for the moment. "So, Commander Taylor is a father again is he. I suppose good manners dictate I send the new mom and dad a gift." He looked at Jason, "Wouldn't you agree?"

            Jason didn't seem to be any happier with the news and was on board for whatever Lucas had in mind.

Showers of Gifts

            "Oh my God." Rayne said as Washington came in carrying another package. "Where are all these gifts coming from? This is the fourth one this morning alone and it's not even 9 am." She said taking it from the lit.

            "Commanders daughter big news." Wash said with a smile.

            "I'm trying to keep up with thank you’s but half of these don't even have names or are marked." Rayne said looking at the box seeing no note and no name.

            "Thank God more than half of it is eatable, I don't know where you'd keep it all if it wasn't." Wash walked over looking into the crib seeing the small baby fast sleep. She couldn't help but smile at how beautiful she was. She looked at the gifts that had come in today, and walked over looking some more of it that they'd gone. Almost all of it was homemade little gadgets or toys for the baby.

            Rayne sat the box down in front of her reaching for her knife and cutting the tie. When she opened the box several spiders skittered out before she could close it. "Get the baby, get her out of here!" Rayne exclaimed. Wash quickly scooped Willow up out of her crib and ran out as Rayne went down the door closing it, then to the windows slamming them shut, locking herself in with them, and went to work collecting them all so they wouldn't escape free into the colony.

            A while later, Taylor was pacing outside his home with Malcolm and Jim. "Is Willow alright?" Jim asked.

            "She's fine, but I had Wash take her over to the infirmary to be safe." He continued to pace.

            "Who would send a box full of poisonous spiders as a baby gift?" Malcolm asked.

            "Someone who has an issue with you and Rayne?" Jim suggested.

            "That doesn't really narrow the list down a whole lot Shannon. I don't know who did this, but someone’s teeth are going to be handed to them in a box by the end of this." He said just as the front door of the house opened. Rayne walked over to Malcolm and handed him the box she'd received.

            "35 Poisonous spiders just for you. The box is sealed but I wouldn't drop it. Death is instantaneous if a human being is stung by one." She warned him.

            "You're sure that's all of them?" Jim asked.

            "Yup." She handed him a slip of paper that had come inside the box. Jim opened it and sighed when he saw what it said. "Congratulations on your bundle of joy, here's 35 more little surprises for the lucky parents." Taylor look it and read it with a disgusted sigh. It was sick and the intent was absolutely malicious in tone and manner.

            "Malcolm, get that thing out of here and as far away from my house as possible." Taylor said. Malcolm nodded and turned heading back to the lab with the box of death.

            Jim stepped closer to him, "You know who did this?"

            "I should know my sons handwriting by now, Jim." Taylor said in a low voice, "Apparently the thought of having a baby sister didn't sit to well with him." He turned and stepped closer to Rayne, "And what the hell are you doing locking yourself in there with those things?" He demanded.

            Rayne looked at him not believing that he was even asking. "We have to live in there, Nathaniel. Do you think I was going to risk one of those getting loose in the colony? Or stay lose in our house?" She asked.

            "What if you had gotten bitten? Hell I've been standing out here wondering if I should wait or kick in the damn door!" He roared.

            "Animals don't bite me, you know that, and if this would have happened anywhere else in the colony I would have been the one called in." Rayne argued. "Besides, just as a precaution I stunned them with a sound wave before I started picking them up. How do you think I got the box open without letting them all out?"

            "I’m just uh gonna go . . . . yeah." Jim said turning and leaving the scene not wanting to be in the way.

            "Willow was out of the house in seconds thanks to Wash, which I'm pretty sure is the important point of all of this." Rayne continued.

            "You should have been the one to bring her out!" Taylor exclaimed.

            "Then what were you going to do? The spiders had to be collected and if they had gotten loose a lot of people could have gotten hurt." She asked.

            Taylor was properly frustrated with her now and just blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Burned the damn thing to the ground and built a new one!" He yelled. Both of them were toe to toe starring each other down. He knew she didn't like killing animals when there was no reason for it, even though they were dangerous ones like this.

            A moment passed before they both broke into laughter at the stupidity of the argument. Rayne put her hand on her stomach as it was starting to ache they were laughing so hard.

            "I guess we haven't changed a whole lot these past few years have we." Taylor admitted.

            "Well," She said stepping closer and whispering, "At least now when we fight we get to have spectacular make up sex."
            Taylor grinned reaching out and pulling her closer, "I'd call that a definite improvement from the brig nuzzling her neck a little bit before he whispered into her ear, "You still might end up in cuffs anyway." Rayne grinned but then stopped their advances on each other before things got to far out of their hands.

            "No, no we can't right now." She said.

            "Oh come on honey." He whispered in her ear, "Just real quick." He said kissing her neck.

            "We can't, you've got work and I need to go retrieve our daughter from the infirmary." She said nuzzling him back loving the feel of his hands on her. "Tonight." She whispered kissing him.

            "Tonight." He repeated knowing she was probably right, "Hmm." He said thinking it over holding her against him. "I'll be home at 9pm sharp." He said swatting her bottom, before letting her go. Rayne stuck her tongue out at him before heading towards the infirmary.

Laboratories

            Rayne came into the lab carrying Willow who had fallen sleep after just having eaten. "So how many did we keep?" She asked walking in behind Malcolm. He jumped not having heard her come in.

            "I wish you wouldn't do that." He looked at Willow, "Didn't Taylor expressly say she's not allowed in the labs?"

            "No, he said she's not allowed in my lab. He doesn't want her near the animals so young." Rayne said as it was a slight point of contention between her and Taylor at the moment. "The spiders?"

            "Uh." Malcolm had a feeling she was playing semantics but that whole situation would remain between her and Taylor. No one had a desire to get between them. "Not many actually. By the time we'd gotten them secured and out of the box, they'd started eating each other. Whoever put them in that box, put them in their mad and hungry." Malcolm explained, "There were only four, live and undamaged specimens left."

            "Hmm. The cannibalism bit is new. We should probably add that into the files." Rayne turned and walked to the terminal turning on the computer pulling up the arachnid files finding the spider in her notes. Malcolm turned his attention from the spiders to Rayne watching her work with one and, and an arm around her baby in the other.

            "Rayne, you still have a few more weeks of maternity leave. You honestly don't need to come back to work as of yet." He said watching her.

            "You're down a couple of zoologists, Malcolm. You can't afford for me to take more time off." Rayne said making the entry.

            "It's not just that you shouldn't come back to work, it's that you can't." He said seriously. Rayne sighed and closed the file. "I appreciate you are capable of being a working mother, but your line of work is dangerous enough as it is. You cannot afford to have your attention divided from these creatures when you are working with them. It's dangerous for you, it's dangerous for them, it's just not practical."

            "Malcolm, Please." Rayne began, "I don't want to put anyone in danger or in harm’s way. Not myself, certainly not the children, and especially not Willow. Doesn’t anyone believe that I know what I'm doing and that I won't let the animals attack the children or vice versa? It is so insulting to think I’m not smart enough to know the dangerous of my own job and that I don't take precautions to insure safety." Rayne sighed in frustration wrapping her other arm around willow a moment. "I’m sorry Malcolm." She apologized for arguing with him before she turned and left the lab.

            Malcolm knew she wasn't happy. She'd spent months alone in the field at a time before, when she came into the colony and things started moving between her and Taylor, she was extremely limited to field time and lab work. Then it was just lab work alone and now it seemed that not even that was available to her now. Rayne was like a wild cat that had been forced into captivity, and she was starting to feel the cage that she was being kept in was shrinking.

AWOL

            "She wouldn't just do that, she wouldn't just pick up and leave out of the blue, especially if it meant leaving Willow behind." Washington said.

            "I might be inclined to agree with you Wash, except all of her gear is gone and we've seemed to have acquired a live in baby sitter since this morning." Taylor said in absolute frustration. "She wouldn't take Willow OTG knowing how extremely dangerous it is to even go with an escort. Now, she'd thought this through." It wasn't hard to understand why he was so upset, and it seemed like at the same time he couldn't believe she'd just run away like this.

            "Maybe she just needed something OTG and went to get it herself." Jim suggested.

            "It doesn't matter, Shannon. She promised me that she wouldn't do this anymore, and yet she just picked up and left the colony on her own without a word." Taylor roared. "My son is out there just waiting for an opportunity like this, and she knows it."

            "Then why would she go?" Washington asked. "She doesn't want another run in with Lucas, so why would she do this?"

            Taylor sighed, "Look around the colony, see if anything else is missing. It might tell us where she went. Shannon, find out where she got through the fence so we can have some idea of which way she went." The commander ordered. Both gave a nod and immediately went to work.

In The Jungle

            It felt like it had been ages since she had gotten out of the colony, and she felt more at home in the wild then she would ever feel there. Everyone in the colony was afraid of the animals, it was the one thing that she didn't have in common. She found them fascinating, intelligent, magnificent creatures. Even the ones that were classified as mindless killing machines. She'd approached an unsadated slasher before and walked away without a mark. Definitely something to see. She wasn't foolish when it came to working with dangerous animals, she simply had an immortal like talent for it. Perhaps it was why she was also so good with children.

            Rayne was still quite aware of the actual dangers for her in the jungle and she moved through the brush and trees keeping a sharp look out for any Sixer activity. They were the real threat and truthfully, were the only thing in the wild she truly feared.

            It was a long journey and she checked her coordinates frequently to make sure she was moving in the right direction, and reading the signs as she came on them. It wasn't until the next day she found signs of what she had been looking for. It was way up in the trees, and she would have to climb to get to them.

            When she got almost 50 feet up, she found what looked like a tree house and crawled up onto the deck. It was a little strange, obviously having been a Sixer camp at one point but it seemed abandoned now. There was no perimeter, no guards, no anything except a few empty tree top houses. Already she could smell a putrefying smell. Laying on a pallet in the corner she saw a body and quickly made her way over. As expected, she found Jason lying still. He looked like death barely warmed over and was unconscious.

            Reaching up she pulled the blanket back and felt sick. Several sores and wounds that had not only become infected, but maggots and other such creatures had moved in to feast on the dying body. "Oh my god." She said reaching up feeling his throat and found a weak pulse. "Jason? Jason can you hear me?" She asked. No response came at all and she reached for her pack pulling out the supplies she'd brought from the colony and quickly going to work on him. She injected him with a full spectrum anti-bionics, and then began to work on his wounded body. It seemed like he had been attacked by something with sharp teeth and claws. "Compassion doesn't seem to be something the Sixer's brought through the portal with them." She said in disgust taking out her knife and quickly going out to get a few things to start a fire so she could clean her tools and warm up the small hut before nightfall, and she would need water as well.

Three Days

            Rayne was sitting next to the pallet checking the wounds that were already looking much better. They were clean and the red indicating infections were receding and fading. Luckily this area had a lot of plants that held medicinal qualities and were better then what she had brought from the colony. They were making his recovery much faster than it would be otherwise.

            When she reached over to get the small amount of food from the fire, a hand suddenly caught her wrist and she looked seeing Jason's eyes open for the first time. They looked clear and a lot of the color had returned to his face. "Rayne, what are you doing here?" He said quickly.

            "I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to wake up." She said with a sigh a little startled by his sudden movement when she assumed he was asleep. "You were a mess when I found you. You're doing much better now."

            "You shouldn't have come here, you need to leave. You need to leave now." He said almost in a desperate voice.

            "Actually you need to eat something so you can regain your strength. I've been giving you water but it's not all you need." She said reaching over grabbing her pack and helping him into a sitting position putting it behind his back. She handed the bowl of food to him and put a spoon in his hand. "Luckily I found you before your friends got to healthy tissue so I guess they helped the problem a little."

            "Friends? What friends?" He said confused.

            "Umm, never mind, just eat." She said. He started to take a few bites looking around nervously before he looked at her.

            "Rayne, what are you doing here? How did you find me?" He asked.

            "I got your message that you were in a bad way and needed help. I had no idea you were going to be knocking on deaths door. I mean, I can't believe I got the message without someone else in Terra Nova catching it and . . . ." She looked at him, "Keep eating. All of it." She demanded. He went back to eating what was in the bowl. "You're well on the mend, but let’s not go backwards." Jason scarfed it down then put the bowl aside. She moved close and helped him drink from her canteen making sure he would drink as much as possible.

            "I was attacked. I wasn't sure what it was, I'm not even sure how I got out of there alive." Jason admitted.

            "Well, considering everything, I wouldn't call that escaping alive. You were rattled with infection and putrefaction had already set in. I'm surprised every single meat eater within 20 miles didn't find you before I did. I suppose your being up here saved you from being a snack." She said as it still didn't account for why things with wings or climbing capabilities didn't find him. "You've been living with the Sixers." She said seriously. "It's why you've survived these past few months."

            "They found me not long after I was banished. I stumbled across one of their patrols." He said still not telling her the truth. Banishment was exactly what he wanted, knowing that there were people outside waiting to pick him up and take him back to their camp. "Why did you come here?" He asked. "The last time we spoke, it seemed like you hated me."

            "Well, probably because I did." Rayne said outright not even trying to sugar coat it. "You took advantage of our friendship, of my trust of you, and you did something disgusting and unforgivable. You betrayed me." Jason looked down as it felt like she had slapped him without raising a hand. She finished putting a clean bandage on his leg as she spoke, "I still can't forgive you for what you did. You could have hurt me, you could have hurt my little girl with that game of yours and you didn't care." She pulled the tie of the bandage a little tight and Jason winced still tender. "You're as selfish as ever and I've always hated that about you."

            "I still don't understand why you're here. If that's what you think of me, why did you come?" He asked.

            Rayne was quiet for a moment as she picked up the syringe and injected him with his daily dose of anti-biotic. "Because you were my friend." She said in a soft voice not looking at him. "I couldn't believe it, when you came to Terra Nova. I was so happy to see a familiar face. When I first got here I didn't have any friends and I didn't know anyone." She explained. "But you didn't see me as a friend, you saw me as something else. Something I could never be for you."

            "I came here, because I loved you Rayne." Jason said. "I was hoping we would get back together before you left because I . . . I was going to ask you to marry me."

            She sighed a little looking up at him, "Jason, I don't love you that way. If you would have asked me, I would have said no. We weren't right for each other, it's why we broke up in the first place."

            Jason was quiet watching her tending his wounds another moment, "Did you ever love me?" He questioned.

            Rayne's hands slowed a minute, before she looked up at him. "Yes. I loved you very much. I still do, but not in the way you want me too. I love you like a friend, like a brother." She shook her head, "But nothing else. My heart belongs to Nathaniel Taylor. But there was still room in it for you." Jason could see how much she meant her words, and knew that she was telling him the truth. She'd never lied to him before, and there was no reason to start now. "Why did the Sixer's leave you behind?" She asked, "They know how to tend to their wounded, it's not like Mira to leave one of theirs like this."

            Reaching over he took her hands, "Rayne, you have to go. You have to leave right now. I didn't send you any message. You know reading maps the technical stuff always weren't my best subject. I don't even know where we are to tell you how to find me."

            "Jason, what are you talking about? You called me, you said you were hurt bad and didn't know if you were going to make it." She said not understanding. "It was you, I heard your voice."

            "They didn't leave me behind, Rayne. They left me as bait this is a . . . ." Was all he could get out.

            "Trap?" Both turned and looked up seeing a familiar face. Lucas stood starring at her with a smile his hands clasped behind his back. Rayne's eyes went wide and she could hardly catch her breath as she stood up stumbling back away from him. "Hello mom." She looked at Jason and turned starting to run for the window, except Lucas held up a sonic and fired hitting her so hard she flew and hit the wall before falling unconscious to the floor.

To Be Continued . . . .
(PLEASE SEND FEEDBACK!!! Comment on my story or e-mail me directly at mercilessraven@yahoo.com :)
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A New Beginning