Title: From the Ashes, Life Arose
Author: SassySarcasm
Rating: T
Pairings: Wash/Taylor
Warnings: Mentions of death and gore. SPOILERS for season finale.
Summary: "Commander Taylor? I think you need to see this." Doc. Shannon called to him as he got up to leave the infirmary. He was just so tired, what required his attention now?
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by the writers and producers of Terra Nova, and definitely not me.
A/N: This is just a little one-shot addressing the rather poor ending for Wash in the season finale. She was one of my favorite characters and I feel like they should have given more pause to her death, maybe a memorial or funeral for her and all those who died? Who knows, maybe they left it open as a plot hole to be filled later. But this is something I wished could have happened.
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Cowards die many times before their deaths
The valiant never taste of death but once.
-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
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The air was stale and filled with the smell of alcohol and gunpowder; it was almost unrecognizable from the colony Taylor had remembered. The one he and his inner circle had built, the one he had lost many to for the sake of it surviving.
It seemed that wasn't enough, he now had lost the last of his original group.
Lieutenant Alicia Washington had been his oldest friend, his confidante even before Terra Nova and Somalia. She had known his wife, even babysat Lucas.
And Lucas, the same little boy who had called her 'Auntie Aly' had killed her. His own son, her pseudo nephew/son killed her, and with her, the last of his family.
The idea tore him apart.
"Commander Taylor? I think you need to see this."
Taylor looked up at the sound of the Doc's voice; she was hovering at his shoulder looking concerned.
"Doc? Why aren't you with your family?" He asked, gruffly.
It was not the best time to be approaching him; he was exhausted mentally and physically.
There had been the battle, losing Wash, being tricked and stabbed by Lucas… wasn't that more than enough? Couldn't he get a moments peace?
"Never mind that, Commander you MUST come see this. Right now." Elisabeth Shannon, the little spitfire, had just ordered him. Him.
And, upon inspection, he found himself too tired to put up much of a fight. Better to give in now. And Wash said he never knew when to give up… Wash…
No, he couldn't go there, wouldn't go there. He had gotten depressed when his wife died and Alicia had been the one to pull him out of it. He wouldn't disgrace her memory by dropping into it again.
"Lead on."
With one last concerned look Elisabeth did just that; surprising him by not leading him out of the infirmary as he had expected but further into it. Towards the emergency surgery rooms he had only occasionally had reason to visit.
"Doc?" he asked, curious and more than a little wary. He didn't much like hospitals.
She shook her head, motioning for him to be silent.
Out of his depth, he subsided. He did, and had on multiple occasions trusted her husband with his and the colony's lives. He could trust her as well.
She stopped in front of a curtain that was blocking the view of the very last, most easily concealed bed.
"Prepare yourself; this is going to be a shock." She cautioned him; placing a calming hand on his shoulder.
The pronouncement sent shivers down his neck and back. This situation left him distinctly unsettled, something was going on.
After receiving his hesitant nod, she smiled tightly and pulled the curtain aside.
Taylors was speechless.
In shock, he stumbled into the room collapsing into the uncomfortable chair by the bed, eyes transfixed on the figure in front of him.
"How is this possible?" It couldn't be, he knew. She was DEAD and yet he could see her chest rising and falling as she breathed and if it wasn't for the bandage wrapped around her forehead she could have been sleeping. There was no way this could be real.
Alicia Washington, the friend he had seen shot in the head was lying on the bed in front of him, very much alive!
It wasn't possible!
"I was just as befuddled as you, at first." Elisabeth started slowly. "But it seems some of the colonists left here who were loyal to you, found her where the soldiers dumped her."
Elisabeth paused, getting over her anger at the heartless mercenaries. "Normally that wouldn't mean much, except a chance for a proper burial. But one of them was trained as a field medic and realized she was alive, when she had no right to be."
Taylor looked up sharply, finally pulling his gaze away from Wash. "How is this real? You can't survive a pointblank shot to the head, Doc. You know that, I know that. And yet…"
"Any yet…" Elisabeth agreed with a small smile, "The ones who found her didn't really care as to HOW she was alive, just that she was. The one with medic training, Michael I believe, cleaned up the wound and pulled the bullet out."
That caught Taylor's attention. "What? The bullet should have gone straight through. "
Elisabeth smirked at him, "Just wait I'm getting to that." Taylor briefly scowled, and just as he opened his mouth to demand she get to the point, Wash shifted on her bed.
"Nathaniel?" she murmured as she began to move restlessly on the bed. Unconsciously searching for the presence of the one person she had always trusted, in good times and bad.
Taylor's scowl turned into a rarely gently smile, and Elisabeth wasn't surprised when he reached over and grabbed one of her hands. He rubbed his calloused fingers against her equally calloused palms.
"I'm here." He murmured back, just as quietly.
Immediately she quieted, recognizing his voice and trusting it. If possible she looked like she was resting more peacefully than before.
Taylor turned back to Elisabeth, silently asking her to continue. With a decisive nod she complied.
"Like I said, none of them looked too hard as to WHY she was still alive. It was actually not a deep wound; something had stopped the bullet from penetrating into her skull. He cleaned the wound and then they moved her here and kept her hidden, until we came back. Not soon after they came looking for me."
Elisabeth picked up a data pad, and pulled up some files that Taylor vaguely recognized. "Here, this is why it didn't kill her. She's one lucky lady."
Perplexed, Taylor took the pad and looked down at the file on the screen. It was Washington's medical file, and one entry in particular had been highlighted by the doctor for him.
At first it was confusing, why this medical instance in particular?
But as he read on, it began to make more sense. In fact, he remembered this. He had been there.
"Years ago while serving in Somalia along with you, she was close to an explosion. Too close. Even with all the technology available at the time, for some of the wounds they could only heal the cuts, mend the skin to the point where one couldn't even tell."
Taylor nodded along; knowing intimately to what she was referring. Wash had been all cut up and bleeding and he had been SURE she would scar badly. But she hadn't, the doctors had known what they were doing.
"There was some shrapnel left over they couldn't remove." She paused letting that sink in. Taylor's eyes widened, could it be…?
"One particularly thick piece of metal lodged into the deep tissue of her forehead. They were able to sculpt it, and fix her skin so you couldn't tell but it would have risked brain damage to remove. It's a good thing they didn't. If they had she wouldn't be alive now. It was that last piece of shrapnel that stopped the bullet."
Taylor let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding. It made sense, it made sense and that meant that maybe this wasn't a dream teasing him with her survival.
This was REAL, she wasn't dead.
Elisabeth sighed softly, "She's mostly okay. When she started coming around they gave her a sedative, they didn't want the mercenaries to realize she was still alive. At most she'll have a nasty scar on her forehead." Elisabeth paused and moved forward, gripping his shoulder comfortingly, "She'll live Taylor. In fact she should be waking soon."
With that last bit of information, she gripped his shoulder and turned to leave intent on finding her own family and giving him some privacy with his.
Taylor turned back to Washington, to Alicia. Squeezing her hand, he wished she would wake up. If only so he could be sure this was real and not some scenario his mind had conjured up to torment him.
It wouldn't be the first time it had happened to him.
As if hearing his thoughts, and as always, trying to please him she began to stir again. This time with more determination than before, she wouldn't be quieted even when Taylor leaned over and whispered soothing words into her ear.
This time her eyes opened, revealing the amber eyes he knew so well.
She was awake.
Taylor leaned forward bringing his free hand up to cup her face, his thumb rubbing her cheek with a gentleness most wouldn't think he possessed.
Her eyes darted around, assessing the room and their situation before landing and fixing on him. "Nathaniel…"
The hand that he was still holding squeezed his. In response he leaned over and pressed a kiss on her forehead.
"How… how is this possible sir? I knew what I was doing. I should be dead." She demanded, coming more to herself. Now that she was fully awake, she was struggling to sit up and demanding answers in a way that was solely hers.
Taylor chuckled fondly, and tapped her forehead softly, "That piece of shrapnel in your head, save your life Wash. It stopped the bullet from doing too much damage."
He watched as that piece of information sunk in, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Well, I guess you aren't the only lucky bastard around here anymore." She told him gruffly, clearly referring to all the times he had survived similar situations by the skin of his teeth.
With a bark of laughter, he stood up and nudged Wash until she moved over so he could lie beside her on the medical bed. It wasn't likely anyone would find them here anyways.
She gave him a confused look, but didn't question him, simply turning so she could lay her head on his chest and listen to the reassuring sound of his heart.
Alicia had always hated going into battle when they weren't near each other. For some reason it always seemed easier when they were stationed together and could watch each other's back.
Going into battle together versus separately didn't lessen the risk, but it seemed easier to manage when they were together.
In fact after they served together for the first time, Taylor had always made sure they were assigned to the same places. Particularly after his wife's death, he had needed her to keep himself sane. And when he was assigned the task to go to Terra Nova, she was on the top of his list for those to go with him.
Most knew that he was the first to go through the gate. But, most didn't know that she had been right behind him.
He had been here over 100 days by himself, and once she joined him they were alone for who knows how long.
"What happened?" she finally ventured, not looking up as her fingers sketched patterns across his chest sometimes tugging playfully on his shirt.
Taylor glanced down, and tightened his grip on her waist.
"Shannon and his family got out, thanks to you." He paused, grief briefly choking his throat. Wash didn't comment when his free hand came up run his fingers reassuringly through her dark hair that for once wasn't tied back.
"I saw… I SAW Lucas shoot you. I… thought you were dead." He breathed deeply, unsure if he could continue.
But Wash just smiled and caught the hand that was playing with her hair and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "I'm here Nathaniel. I am alive."
He nodded, "So you are."
After sitting in silence for a moment, both reveling in the presence of the other he continued. "It was your clue that did it." He told her, "Shannon went through the portal and blew up Hope Station."
Washington jerked slightly in surprise, "Did it work? Did he make it back?" she asked, firing her questions quickly; like Taylor she had come to admire and like their town sheriff.
"He's fine, home with his family." Taylor told her soothingly.
She nodded, not quite trusting her voice.
Understanding and not pushing her Taylor went on, "From there everything went to plan… until I came face to face with Lucas."
Here, he found, was where he wasn't sure what to say. How he could tell her that he had let his guard down? That he had practically forgiven her killer? For killing her and so many others?
Sensing his turmoil Alicia shifted so she was straddling his hips, facing him. Slowly so as not to startle him she cupped his face in her hands.
"Taylor… Nathaniel… Nothing you could say will make me hate you." She informed him, a bitter smile on her face. "Anger me maybe, even enrage me. But I could never hate you."
Slowly after hearing her passionate, if quiet profession, Taylor opened his eyes and met hears. Topaz clashed with brilliant blue.
"He tricked me, Alicia." He told her finally, his voice sounding raw and broken even to his own ears, "Feeding me lines about how he thought it was his fault his mother died. About how he thought I hated him for it." Taylor choked, "I wanted it to make sense, and I wanted to be able to fix it." He told her, wincing even as he told her.
It was like a wound, cleaning it hurt but helped in the long run.
Taylor looked at her uncertainly, scanning her face for any kind of reproach or reprimand.
But she just smiled knowingly, "You can't fix everything, though God knows you try."
Taylor sighed smiling affectionately, and continued the tale, "He got up and hugged me… I… let my guard down and hugged him back." Taylor shook his head at his own stupidity, "And just as I was thinking that maybe we could be okay, he stabbed me. In the side, he used the hug to get access to the area on my side where my armor didn't protect me."
Alicia jerked away from him in shock, and if Taylor had reached out and gripped her elbows she might have fallen off the bed they were squeezed into.
"He WHAT?" She demanded crossly, her fingers already pulling his shirt up and tracing across his stomach searching for the wound she knew existed.
Not too soon after she found it, and she gazed intently at it. She was judging whether the impromptu stitching was done to her standards.
With a huff she relented, smiling, "You let Doctor Shannon look after you?"
Taylor chuckled, amused. "Let? You say that like I had a say in the matter! She threatened to tie me down if I wouldn't sit still. And I've only ever let you get away with that." He informed her, not troubling to hide his amusement at the situation.
Wash laughed, and when he tugged her down, she once again relaxed against him. The two lay there for a while, neither bothering to break the silence. Both of them much preferred to express themselves though action rather than words.
Finally Taylor finished the story, "Once it was all over we get a call telling us those leftover mercenaries had cleared out of Terra Nova, heading to the Bad Lands. We're not sure why, they found something, something that could mean there's another portal out there."
She processed that last bit silently. Another portal? Could that mean they would go through this all again?
Taylor smiled grimly, and kissed the top of her head, "Let's not worry about that right now. You're safe, I'm safe, and for now our people are safe. We should use this time to rebuild, recover."
Sighing, she complied, relaxing the muscles she had unconsciously tensed. "You're right of course." Her speech was halted by a yawn which proved its contagiousness by causing him to yawn soon after.
"We should both rest. After all, we have big day tomorrow; starting with explaining your survival to everyone."
She smiled and buried her face in his neck, breathing in the smell that was uniquely him.
"Good night, Nathaniel." She whispered softly, letting her eyes drift shut.
"Night, Alicia." He responded, dropping one final kiss on her forehead before he too closed his eyes.
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A/N: So... yeah... it was just a brief plot bunny on my part. I thought it was weird that they didn't go more into her death, just skating over it. No funeral? No finding her body? It felt as if maybe they purposefully left it that way, maybe they intend to fill that plot hole next season. But either way, this was my way of reconciling the ending. REVIEW! please :)