A/N This is how I thought Taylor would feel after watching Wash die, because he'd been through it before. Italics are flashbacks to when Ayani died.

It's her all over again. Only last time, there was a choice.

The language made no sense to him. The gestures did. Pick one. He and Ayani had agreed on this. If one of them could take another to safety, that other person would be Lucas. Lucas, his boy.

Taylor pulled out his gun, ready to fight, unlike last time. Shannon puts his hand on Taylor's arm. He didn't hear the words, just understood their meaning. He couldn't save Wash.

He felt tears prick his eyes as he pointed towards his son. His only son. His only child. They rebels took away the cloth from Lucas's eyes, eyes like his own. The half-dragged him to his father. Lucas looked up at him, barely alive.

He watched as that boy, now grown, pointed a gun to his lieutenant. He watched his mouth move, telling her to betray him.

He met Ayani's gaze. She nodded quietly, and seemed to be at peace. He'd made the right decision, she was telling him.

Betrayed. That's how he felt. He felt betrayed that he'd saved his son's life, and his son had repaid him by killing his confidante. He didn't confide everything in her. But he did tell her most things. And now she was about to die.

They didn't let her go easy. She was tortured and hurt. He forced himself to watch. This was the sacrifice he had made, that they'd both made. When she finally died, she died happy. Her son was safe.

He watched her utter those fateful words. "You have your father's eyes." Then she was gone.