I had a bunch of people *cough* six *cough* who requested more of Faith, so this is a slight continuation. It's not necessary to read Faith first, but it will give a bit more backing to the two of them being in love and all. Up to you. After the fishing scene, I was desperate for more slash. But there were no other stories! Except for mine. So here we are again.
Enjoy.
"Y'know," Taylor begins, "you hide it well."
Jim is stretched out on the ground, basking in the moonlight. There's no creature comforts around him, nothing but clothes between him and the dirt. Nothing really matters to the ex-cop but that sky. Spanning for as far as the eye could see. All the stars scattered across the navy blue cloak of nightfall.
Of course, his sky is obscured now by the Commander, who looms over him.
"And what am I hiding, exactly?" he asks, voice rumbling. It's late, and the fatigue is thick in his voice.
The older of the two shrugs, taking a seat in the dirt beside Jim and staring up at the moon. "That you can't stop looking at this sky because no man ever truly leaves prison behind. Funny, isn't it? How a man spends so long without something that if he gets it back, he's always waiting for the moment it leaves again."
That hits a nerve. One that Taylor is unaware was ever raw. Like he has been slapped, Jim rises to his feet and brushes himself off. "I have to go."
Unfortunately for the younger man, Taylor has more than enough speed to match him. The Commander is on his feet immediately, hand pressed just shy of Jim's heart. It sends a jolt of heat through the centre of Jim's chest, warming the cooled skin. They both ignore the way Shannon's heart stutters briefly before it returns to a normal rate. A moment of silence passes, while Taylor stares at his friend, desperate to identify the pain he finds there.
"Elisabeth?" he says finally, when the parallels to his words finally strike him.
"Turns out maybe things do leave again," Jim mumbles, "to better men."
Taylor fumes inwardly, both at Elisabeth and himself. Because the first thought through his mind is, There'sneverbeenabetterman. There's never been another so truly dedicated to protecting his family, to protecting those he loves. Hell, he'd saved Taylor's life before he ever really knew him.
"Come fishing with me," Taylor says, before he's thought it through and before it's really registered in his mind. The words spill out, and there's no taking it back. There's no way to escape it.
And maybe, just maybe, he doesn't really want to.
"What?" Jim says, his face contorting in confusion.
"It'll be good for you to get out of the colony, even if it is just for a day."
"You really think the best way for me to get over my wife leaving me is to go fishing?"
Abruptly, Taylor realises that his hand has never budged from Shannon's chest. He removes it, a glimmer of something unfamiliar sparking in his belly as Jim makes a face. Like he's disappointed at the loss of contact. Like he'd enjoyed it.
"Best kind of medicine," he replies, tapping his index finger against the security officer's sternum.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn (perhaps a few hours before) Taylor is waiting patiently for Jim to finish packing his things. Being in charge means he can swing a day off without too much difficulty - it's also one of the perks of having Wash as his 2IC. He trusts her to act in his stead with as much efficiency as he himself would. Maybe even more.
So he has a whole day, OTG with Shannon. It's a strange feeling that twists his guts together, like glee and pre-emptive regret and just plain fear, but it's a feeling he's come to associate with spending time with Jim. So it's a feeling he's loved since the moment it settled down in his chest and nuzzled against his sensibilities.
Elisabeth insists on offering polite chatter while they wait in the kitchen area of the Shannon house. It takes everything Taylor has in him not to just walk out. But in a way, Elisabeth's leaving Jim has only given him exactly what he wants. So he listens to her small talk, wondering just how long it'll be before news of their split spreads and they can stop living together.
He wonders, with a sinking dread, if they will stop. After all, this is about their children as much as it is about them. And Jim and Elisabeth have forever been about what was best for Maddy, Josh and Zoe. It also occurs to him that he needs a way to subtly offer his house as possible future accommodation, should Jim ever need it. Taylor doubts he would ever accept the offer, no matter how it was posed to him.
When Jim finally emerges, Taylor wastes no time in urging them out of the house. It's already dawn, and they have a ways to go before they reach the fishing spot that Nathaniel has in mind. He'd been there a few times before, with Lucas, with Wash, even with a few of the other pilgrims. Anyone who was interested in the sport.
He and Jim are on their way immediately, moving at a good pace across the landscape that surrounds Terra Nova. Their destination is close enough to negate the need for a rover, but far enough that they get some quality time on the walk there.
"So, you got any plans for moving out?" Taylor blurts, and internalises a kick to the head, because whathappenedtobeingsubtle? Luckily, Jim skips straight over the part where Taylor has apparently given up on being tactful and fallen straight into blurt out every thought that passes his mind.
"I hadn't really thought about it. I want to keep it civil, for the kids. But sleeping on the couch is only comfortable the first time. What's Terra Nova policy on requesting a new house?"
Taylor shrugs. "Find someone with a spare room and ask them politely."
"Got a spare room?" Jim comments, and Nathaniel damn near chokes on pure oxygen. He only manages to hold back the reaction by a hair's breadth, and stares down the ex-cop. It could've been a joke, sure, but there's no laughter in Jim's eyes. He's being completely serious.
"As a matter of fact," he says, hoping it sounds airy, "I do."
"Well, maybe one day I might ask you to let me have it," Jim replies.
And damned if Taylor doesn't want him to ask it right then and there.
They arrive at Taylor's fishing spot, and set up for the day's fishing with grins on their faces. Even on the inside, Jim is smiling. His worries are thrown over the edge of the cliff at their feet, and the wind sings a sweet melody to them as it blows past.
Hell, Jim even starts enjoying himself. But it occurs to him, somewhere between almost dying and ending up clasped in his Commander's arms, that everything he loves about fishing is in some way connected to Taylor.
The first moment of realisation comes in the form of Nathaniel opening up - even if it's for just a split second - about his son. The moment of pure honesty is followed by a look. A look that makes Jim forget his own name, and everything that exists outside this moment. Right here, right now.
The second moment, in which he realises he has been saved from the rocky abyss below, is no less about Taylor than the first. It's then that it sinks in. Taylor has always been there. Always with a smile. Even on their bad days (like the time Taylor tried to kill him) there's this line that keeps them together.
Like Nathaniel Taylor and James Shannon were always meant to be. They just took their sweet time in realising it.
So, really, it's only natural for Jim to do it. It's right that he can lean into Taylor's body and seal their lips together. Their bodies fit, just like everything about them, slotting together and fusing in place. Shannon is still breathless from the near-death experience, and it only makes the Commander more determined to make this kiss last. Their hands are everywhere, with no rhyme or reason, exploring and documenting every different texture or drop or feeling. The pads of Jim's fingertips brush across the bare skin of Nathaniel's biceps, and both of them flush hotter at the contact.
At long last, the fire has truly been unleashed. It spreads up through their bodies until it consumes every inch of them. Right there, overlooking the ocean, Nathaniel and Jim finally find their place.
When they break apart, breathless and beyond turned on, Jim pants into the skin of Taylor's neck, "About that spare room."
Thanks for reading!