Author's Note: Hm, this has it roots in the common fanfiction thing of Jim having the worst timing in history. Guzman is just an added bonus. They might sound a bit occ but that I blame on the sugar I've inhaled while writing this. :D
Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money with this piece. I just do it for fun.


He should have listened when Guzman called out his name and told him to not enter the main room of the command building.

"You plan on standing there all night, Shannon?"

Jim turns around so fast that he practically gives himself whiplash, nearly overbalancing. Even without a mirror he knows his cheeks are flaming red in embarrassment. At least that's what he tells himself.

"Ah, no? I'll-I'll leave?"

"You do that."

Opening the door, he's about to step out when Taylor's voice stops him cold.

"Oh, and Shannon? Not a word." The threat is thinly veiled and Jim nods jerkily, half-expecting to feel a sonic blast hit him for good measures but he makes it out alive. How he gets down the stairs, he can't remember, too busy trying to keep his mind blank and forget what he saw. Not very successfully.

They are all but silhouettes but Jim has no doubt about the identity of the two people at the far end of the dark room, the woman perching on the table, the man standing between her spread legs, her sun-kissed limbs moving against his pale-as-moon skin. One of his hands is buried in her long, black tresses, the other is splayed low on her back in an undeniable possessive manner.

Wash arches up, moaning softly, as Taylor guides her head back, dragging his lips down the arch of her throat. When he reaches the place where her throat meets her shoulder, he flicks out his tongue, a flash of teeth on her skin, and she jerks, clutching his arms, her fingers digging into his skin. Taylor's chuckle has a tinge of darkness as he draws back but the display of dominance only seems to arouse Wash even further and she grasps the base of his neck, pulls him down to her and presses her lips to his fervently.

The kiss is raw and powerful, deepening gradually and gaining in heat with every passing second. And then Wash turns the tables on Taylor, sinks her teeth into his bottom lip, mimicking his earlier move, and he growls low, breaking their kiss, the expression on his face almost feral as he watches her from under hooded eyes.

It doesn't stop her though. Instead Wash scratches her nails down his bare chest to the edge of his trousers, and Taylor tenses visible, the muscles flexing under her hands. With a flick of her wrist she opens the belt and the button, then moves to the zipper and starts dragging it down. At his sharp intake of breath, Wash looks up at Taylor through half-lidded eyes, but her fingers never stop caressing his skin and when she slips her hand inside his trousers, he groans and covers her mouth with his again, hard, demanding, swallowing her gasp. His grip tightens on her back as he tugs her closer to the edge of the table before his hands slide to the hem of her top, slowly pushing it up.

In that moment Jim lets out a pitiful whimper and Taylor's head snaps around, his eyes narrowing as he spies the intruder.

"I told you to wait."

"You knew?" The death glare Shannon levels at him leaves Guzman unimpressed and he smirks, enjoying Shannon's obvious discomfort.

"Didn't you read the memo?"

"There was a memo?" Jim almost shrieks and Guzman is pretty sure he has never seen Shannon this scandalized.

"First day in Terra Nova. It's the most important item on the list of rules. Do not disturb Commander Taylor and Lieutenant Washington when they held their weekly meeting on Saturday night."

"How the hell was I supposed to know that it means...that?" The last word is accompanied by wild hand gestures and for a moment Guzman fears that Shannon is going to actually manage the impossible and explode. "Oh my god, don't tell me everyone here knows...?"

"Of course not! Good lord, Shannon, no one does." Gripping Shannon's arm, Guzman drags him into the shadows under the stairs. "I thought you were a cop? Aren't you guys supposed to notice this stuff?"

"Are you kidding me? Have you looked at them? They are like that black matter stuff Maddy's keeps talking about. You've got no idea what's really going on with them. I never thought it was-" Shannon stops pacing mid-way and fixes him with what Guzman dubbed the Cop-Look. "How did you know they do..." He cringes, his left eye twitching. "Whatever they do up there?"

Now it's Guzman's turn to shift from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation takes.

"Ah-ha! You walked in on them too, didn't you?" The gleeful expression on Shannon's face is bordering on evil and Guzman really wants to be anywhere but here. "That's why the rule exist! You put it there."

Guzman sighs as he thinks back to the night so many years ago that made it absolutely clear what kind of relationship the Commander and Lieutenant have.

They're are hidden in the shadows of the dimly lit room, Taylor sitting behind his desk, Wash in his lap, straddling him, with her back to the door but Guzman knows it is her. Her golden skin, surrounded by Taylor's midnight black clothes, shimmers with a faint layer of sweat, her hair, out of its usual ponytail, cascades over her shoulders and arms in long waves. His hands, still covered in fingerless gloves, are gripping her hips, guiding her as she moves above him slowly, leisurely.

Then Taylor trails one palm up her naked back and gently threads his fingers through her dark hair, pulls her mouth to his and Wash shifts forward, pushing down with her hips, moaning softly. They kiss as they make love, slow and unhurried, a glimpse of tongue and teeth, groans and whimpers echoing in the room. When they break apart, Taylor rests his forehead against Wash's, their breaths mingling, and she shivers but they never stop pushing, rocking against each other.

He slides one hand to her lower spine, the other away from her hair to the base of her throat, gently pressing down, and she follows his silent command, leaning her body back. Taylor's hand slips further down and Wash gasps, tightens her grip on his shoulders, fingers curling in his shirt, her entire body going taut. His own hips arch in response, he hisses, the hand on her spine flexing, and then he leans into her neck and bites at her pulse before his mouth drops to her collarbone.

His gaze, however, is focused on Guzman, a deadly glint shining in those ice-blue eyes.

"And you made it out alive?" Guzman shrugs, staring in the distance. He doesn't tell Shannon that the moment Taylor had looked at him, he had known that whatever the Commander and Wash had going on was something they both needed. Without it they would be lost, broken. Terra Nova couldn't afford losing them and so Guzman had nodded at Taylor before he had left as silently as he had entered.

But Jim isn't a cop for nothing and this time he can read in Guzman's face that there is more to this whole affair. His expression turns serious. "What aren't you telling me?"

Giving Shannon a thoughtful look, Guzman leans against a pillar. "Terra Nova needs them. Needs them focused, happy, whatever you want to call it. And if that means to let them have that," he points up. "Then so be it. I, for one, know that all these years it has never interfered with their duties in any way. In any case, they work even better together, almost as one sometimes. We all can only benefit from it."

"And so you decided to put up that rule," Jim nods in comprehension. "Do they know?"

"I have no idea. We never talked about it but since they always have their 'meeting' Saturday night..." Guzman's voice trails off but Shannon gets the picture and grins, his previous humor returning. "They probably know."

Jim put his hands in his pockets and steps out from under the stairs. "Maybe it was their way of showing you that they trust you with their secret. A twisted way but it fits them."

Laughing, Guzman joins him and slaps him on the shoulder before he starts towards the market. "Well, now they've got two guarding their secrets. Wanna bet they're going heat it up soon, knowing they've got a cop on their side to hide the evidence?"

Shannon splutters, his face a perfect mask of horror. "Evidence? What kind of evidence? Guzman? Hey, Guzman!" In his haste to catch up with the other man, Jim almost stumbles over his own feet. "Guzman!"

Neither of the men notices the two figures watching them from above, just out of view behind the blinds, Taylor's arms wrapped low around her waist, Wash's head resting on his shoulder. "We could have just told him."

"Could have but I like to test my men the hard way." He feels her shaking with silent laughter as she presses her face in his shirt.

"More like seeing him squirm." Her voice is muffled against the soft fabric but he can still make out the words and his lips curve into a smirk against her temple.

"I believe that actions speak louder than words," Taylor says, his voice low, as his hands turn her to face him. They've always worked better with the former than the latter. In their line of work it's necessary if you want to stay alive. It's only given that their personal relationship follows the same pattern.

Wash moans as his lips gently brush over cheek before he kisses her. It's slow, tender, lacking their previous aggression, but the emotion beneath it is just as strong and she yields to him without hesitation.

When they finally separate, she intertwines their fingers and with a gently tug, leads him back into their own world. At least for the rest of the night.

- END -