Lt. Alicia Washington waited.
Seated in her commanding officer's chair, drumming her fingers on the glass surface of his desk, she waited. Badly.
Letting out a huff of air she leant backwards, bringing her clenched fists to her forehead and closing her eyes for a moment.
She always felt like a fraud in here, occupying his space when he wasn't around. She especially hated sitting at his desk - such blatant suggestion of her occupying his position in the colony was something she avoided, lest it tempt fate. It usually only came when she was worried and had no other choice; when he was on a lengthy mission or unconscious in hospital, but also that one time he was late for a debrief with her and Reynolds and Mark dared her to sit in his chair.
(When Nathaniel had finally turned up and seen her in his place, feet casually up on his desk as she perused a datapad, he'd simply laughed and moved behind her to slide the chair back and tip her out of it. Mark had raised a suggestive eyebrow at her as she rejoined him on the other side of the desk and she had smacked him upside the head when they got back out into the marketplace for his impertinence.)
She'd exhausted herself overnight with every possible task, falling into the chair without too much thought about ten minutes previous. It had been light for a few hours and, while there was no strict time limit on the relocation of a bunch of angry pterosaurs, she couldn't help but think Nathaniel and Shannon should be back by now.
She felt the beginnings of sleep tugging at her mind and shot upright, eyes opening instantly. She never slept when Nathaniel was OTG overnight, something she determined to be only fair since he became nocturnal when any of his men did the same. And she had learned from the best, after all.
She overheard the patrol guards chatting as their shift changed, and took that as a cue to head out and get some fresh air. From the balcony she spotted Elisabeth Shannon, pacing fretfully within view of the gate and Alicia's feet apparently made the decision for that to be her destination. When she joined Elisabeth the other woman gave her a nervous glance, her eyes flashing with concern. The worst moment of the entire evening came when Alicia realised hers were likely showing the same. So much for the emotionless military persona.
She'd only been there a second when the guard above the gate announced the return of the rover and her heart shot to her throat. All they knew now was that at least one of them had made it back, but in what state? She and Elisabeth watched the rover pass, seeing two shadows inside and the relief that flooded over Alicia was dizzying.
Together they shot over to it, Jim Shannon appearing first. Alicia noticed the naked relief and love on both Shannons' faces as she passed and cursed inwardly that in comparison her response to Nathaniel's greeting could only be the most innocent of concern.
"Commander! Are you alright?" She asked, her voice a little choked.
"Never better." He replied, moving a little stiffly.
Typical Nathaniel Taylor, she thought, face covered in blood and not even the slightest bit concerned. "What happened out there?" She asked, checking him over as she walked backwards around the rover.
She was only half listening to his response as she continued to catalogue his wounds, just about registering Shannon talking as she reached up to wipe some blood off of the back of his neck. He shrugged her off with a comforting hand on her arm and she noticed Elisabeth looking at her with amusement. Well, that was inconvenient.
She jolted back to herself after that, remembering her duties and asking the awkward question about what happened next. Malcolm's resulting faux pas had her biting at the inside of her cheek to suppress laughter that would likely be more relief than any real amusement at the situation. Nathaniel looked to be doing the same, and took the opportunity to excuse himself to get some sleep.
He looked at her again as he turned to leave and she only met his eyes briefly before lowering her gaze, not trusting herself not to give away her feelings. He patted her shoulder and walked away and it took all her remaining consciousness not to simply traipse after him.
When she did turn she spotted Reynolds, standing off to one side and looking a little worse for wear after his trip to the hospital. She'd checked in on him a couple of times in the night, having to shoo Maddy Shannon home to rest the first time. That was something she was going to have to bring up later. Later, when Mark wasn't looking at her with the biggest shit-eating grin she'd ever seen.
The blood-covered rag in her hands was evidence enough as to what had caused his amusement and she rolled her eyes at him, getting an exaggerated wink in response. The boy was trouble but she was in no state to banter with him now, forcing her feet in the other direction towards her quarters.
Nathaniel was back, the colony was safe for another day and she could finally, finally rest. Hell of a night.