Prompt: Taylor/Wash - Wind
Fill for: bellakitse
Word Count: 696
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Friendship with hints of romance
Summary: What happened when Wash stepped out of the portal in 2142.
Author's Note: Written for the prompt Wind in LJ's Friday's One Word Fic Challenge - Week 1. No spoilers.
Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money with this piece. I just do it for fun.
The first thing Alicia becomes aware of, is the wind. It's wild, untamed, brings with it the smell of life, freedom, everything the future no longer holds. Here in the past, 85 million years away from war, pollution and death, she can feel her body and soul finally starting to heal.
Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes and turns her face upwards, right into the strong breeze and when it brushes across her skin, her lips soften into a small smile, the first real one in months (years).
For a few minutes she simply stands there and enjoys Mother Nature but then the wind carries another scent towards her, powerful and spicy with a hint of gun powder underneath, and her smile widens. There is only one person who smells like that and Wash keeps her eyes closed as she tilts her head in his direction.
"Commander."
The sound that escapes him sounds more animal than human, his voice hoarse as if he hasn't used it in quite some time and her eyes snap open, finding him right away even though he's hidden among the green vegetation lining the small clearing. Silver eyes stare at her, a maelstrom of emotions swirling in his gaze, and her skin starts to tingle uncomfortable as the silence following her word stretches on and on, her smile fading slowly. When she can't take it anymore and takes a step in his direction, Taylor springs into action, and in the blink of an eye he's in front of her, invading her personal space.
Alicia has barely time to register his appearance (torn clothes, dirt smeared across his face and limps, scrubby hair and beard) before he gently but firmly cups her face in his rough yet tender hands.
"You're real," Taylor murmurs huskily, sounding surprised and relieved at the same time as he runs his thumbs over her temple, the other along her bottom lip. His eyes slip close as he rests his forehead against hers, his hands sliding into her hair, fingers tangling in her tresses. "I thought my mind was playing tricks on me again. Every day I detected your scent in the wind but when I turned around, it had always been just my imagination."
His words confuse her even more, a thousand questions flickering across her mind, and she tries to put together the puzzle that presents her but when he wraps his arms around her and pulls her into his tense yet warm body, hands gripping her tightly, she knows that those questions can wait. Right now he needs her, needs the physical proof that she is really here, with him.
Slowly, his muscles relax until he's more hugging her than clinging to her but Alicia still makes no attempt to pull free and so Taylor nuzzles her behind her ear, his beard tickling the sensitive patch of skin there, causing her to shiver.
"Wash?"
"Yes, sir?"
"You smell nice."
This comes unexpected and she cannot help but laugh at his words, turning her head to smirk at him. "You don't."
And at his mock glare, she adds, "Sir."
The first thing Guzman hears, as he walks through the portal a good while later, are laughter and the sound of splashing coming from beyond a line of trees to his left. He follows the sounds and finds his commanding officer, who could give a caveman a run for his money, sitting on a few rocks close to a small stream, with Wash standing behind him, carefully washing and trimming his wild hair and beard.
Guzman leaves silently, letting them have this moment of happiness, instinctively knowing it will probably be the last for a long time, and when the others of their team arrive, he tells them to wait at the portal until the Commander and Lieutenant return, staring anyone down who dares to object.
When Taylor and Wash do return, he looking a little less wild, she having a little more dirt on her clothes and face than she did in 2142, Guzman gives them a short nod and receives two brilliant smiles in return.