A/N: Requested by Shipper55 to have an injured Wash. Here it is :D! Shall be a two shot, folks! Also, I thank Sky, the Defender of Angst, herself, for allowing me to used her emotions for this :D! Was muchly appreciated!

"Don't you let go, Wash. Hold on!" his voice was strained, tight with the effort of holding onto the bundle of vegetation in one hand, and Wash with the other. Their hands were gripped tight; closed in a clasp that refused to open. He winced visibly when the bundle of vines he gripped tore a little with their weight being dragged own by gravity. He looked down at the woman he held onto and saw she was looking down at the river below. Fifty feet. A long, scary looking fifty feet. The river below them stampeded with rapid currents, waiting to take away anything and everything that dared come close.

"Sir."

"Shut up." he retorted. He knew what she was going to say, knew what she was going to propose. It wasn't happening. No way.

"Sir-"

"I said, shut up and hold on, woman." he didn't have to look at her to know she was scowling. Didn't have to see her face to know what she wanted to say.

The commander took a deep breath and tightened his grip on both Alicia and the bundle of leafy vines intertwined together. It pulled from the earth with each passing second, with each breath they took. He curled the arm that held Alicia, was hell bent on getting her close enough to the ledge of the cliff that she could hold on and not worry about the vines ripping with her added weight. Only when he got her half way, the vines gave a little more, brought them down further away from their freedom.

Motionless and silent, they dangled.

Another tear.

"Taylor… Nathaniel." He shook his head. He wouldn't allow it. She'd done it once. She didn't have to- didn't deserve- to do it again. Taylor wasn't going to ask her to, wasn't planning on even entertaining the notion of what she wanted to do. And yet, just like a perfect soldier, she thought of it herself. She died and rose up out of the ashes only to put herself on death's door for him once again. He couldn't take it. Not again. The guilt, the loss. The pain. "It's okay." her voice was soft, pleaded with him to see reason. Begged him to allow her to do this for him.

But it wasn't okay. Not by a long shot.

A vine broke, leaving three in his hand.

Nathaniel cursed under his breath. Cursed the situation and himself for not realizing a danger like this could very well take place. He cursed Wash for being so willing to give her life for him. He cursed the damn dinosaur that chased them down here for putting them in this position.

Later on he would reminisce this and take all the blame. Because it really was his fault. He was the one to haul Alicia's ass out of bed to take a trip with him OTG early that morning. He was the one to let his guard down in favour of showering the very woman he held onto with kisses. He was the one to make the call to tumble down the hill when the dinosaur chased them to avoid being dino lunch.

Nathaniel Taylor was to blame for this. He knew it. Harnessed it and absorbed the pain of it in that moment. If she were to die, it would be his fault.

"Alicia-" another vine.

"Just let go. Let me go."

"No."

"We'll both die if you don't." he said nothing. Because as much as he knew it was true, as much as he didn't want to die, he would rather die with her than have her death barricade through his being and hurt in ways he thought to be long dormant. "It's just a little fall."

He laughed at her attempt, stared at the vines slowly cutting themselves along the sharp ledge of the cliff. "Fifty feet ain't little, Wash."

"The colony needs you." he looked down at her then. She stared up at him, determination set in her gaze.

"I need you." she melted, her features visibly softened and she smiled. Truly smiled. It reached her eyes and, by God, it was the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen. Tears rimmed her eyes but refused to shed.

"You'll survive without me." and then she relaxed her hand in his, her fight gone- making it impossibly difficult for him to hold onto dead weight. Alicia started tugging her hand from him. His frown and sharp look should have made her stop. It should have made her freeze. Instead, she used her other hand and pried his pinky finger off. She bent it back to near painful levels. All she had to do now was yank and he would be helpless to stop her.

"Don't do it, Wash. Alicia don't-"

She yanked just as the second last vine snapped. He stared after her in horror, her fall set in a slow motion that stole his breath, paled his complexion. Made his heart stop a mere moment. Her smile, her damn smile never left her lips even as fear of the landing took over her gaze. What felt like minutes was only mere seconds as her body impacted with the water. He scanned the river with a rapidly beating heart for any sign of her. He found none, the current was too strong, the rapids were too wild.

With a roar of utter frustration, anger and hurt, he used his now free hand to grip the ledge and hoisted himself up. "Terra Nova base this is Commander Taylor, do you copy?" his feet followed the river even before he realised he was running in the direction the current took Wash, fifty feet above it.

"Commander Taylor this is Terra Nova base, we read you." It was Jim's voice.

"Shannon, I need you to dispatch a rescue team and medics about twenty clicks south of the gate at a river. It's Wash." He hadn't meant for his voice to break. Hadn't meant for such emotion to emit from her name. And yet it was all it took for the younger than to not ask questions. It was all it took for Shannon to realise just how serious this was.

"Copy that, sir. Dispatch unit is on the way." Nothing more needed to be said. The mission was simple, mutual. Find Alicia and pray to God she was all right.

On foot it seemed like forever until he reached the river. His lungs burned, his legs ached but it didn't matter. Not when Wash was down there somewhere. Dead or alive he needed to reach her. Needed to get to her. He came to the bottom the same time two Rhinos pulled up. Elisabeth Shannon and Mark Reynolds in one, each had worry etched onto their faces. Reilly and Dunham pulled up in the other. "There are others, sir," Mark stated. "They're taking a look down by the falls."

Nathaniel's face blanched. Falls… He looked at the river behind him and stared further ahead. Of course there was a water fall, because luck just hadn't had it's fill of tormenting him today. "Let's find her. Bring her home." he said. Reynolds pushed to the back to allow Nathaniel into the Rhino unit. "Keep your eyes open, people!" he commanded and set off down the river with Reilly's vehicle following behind.

They did two full rounds up and down the river, at the bottom of the falls and beyond it. Still no one had seen her. No one had set eyes on Alicia's body. This was impossible. Improbable at the very least. If Wash had somehow survived that fall, there could be no way she would be left unscathed. That possibility was… no. He didn't accept that. She was here. She had to be here. They must have missed something. They must have missed a spot.

"Again, circle again." He said into his comm. There was a moment of silence, each of his men thinking the worst before a definite 'yes, sir' sounded through. Each of them thought that if she had been here, it was possible she was dragged away by a predator. He knew they were thinking it. It had crossed his mind more than once. It was quickly shot down. Quickly shunted aside. This river was huge, the falls even bigger. The calm river leading away from the falls stretched for miles. She was there. She had to be there.

He made Reynolds drive this time and took the opportunity to scout the area thoroughly. Nathaniel took in every inch of his surroundings. They got down to the bottom of the falls and Nathaniel took to walking the area. Others followed suite while a couple people stayed in the vehicles. Looking to the horizon, Taylor's eyes narrowed. The sun was setting but he couldn't leave- wouldn't leave- when she was out here. He knew it. Nathaniel could feel it within him.

Alicia Washington was no expert, but she was fairly certain when one was dead, they didn't feel like pain incarnated. A groan left her lips as she first took in her surroundings through her senses. It was quiet save for the water she lay in. Her eyes opened and immediately she shut them tight. Pain coursed the back of her eyes and shot throughout her body. She tensed every muscle and it was then that she was able to fully comprehend just how much damage was done to her.

Another groan- it was far more pain influenced than the last. Her fingers gripped the earth as she took deep breaths to calm the agony within her, over her. Slowly, she opened her eyes again and forced herself to breathe. Just breathe. Her nerves were shot from the shock of so much pain assaulting her senses at once. It made it exceedingly difficult to turn herself over on her back to take a look at herself.

She was soaked with blood bleeding through her right pant leg, scratches marred her hands and without having to touch her face, she knew a fantastic purple bruise formed on the side of her face. She remembered smacking face first into a rock before everything went back. Wash was surprised she lasted through those rapids. Was surprised to have lasted over the falls. At least she figured she went over a set of falls. A river didn't move that furiously without purpose. Sitting up, Alicia's breath hitched. Immediately a hand came to rest against her side. Feeling it gently, nothing appeared to be out of place, just tender and bruised.

Lifting her pant leg carefully, she inhaled and exhaled. Keep calm. That was key. A sharp stick penetrated her leg. It wasn't sharp enough to clear through her but it was most certainly sharp enough to piece her skin and wedge itself in deep. Moving carefully, Alicia took off her jacket, tore near the hem where a rip had already started and tossed the remains of her favourite garment aside to put back on later.

Deep breath- she gripped the stick. Clenched her teeth- she yanked the wood from her leg. It took everything not to cry out as she clenched hard, grunted from the sharp throbbing. Moving quickly, she scooted further into the water and watched as the water cleaned her wound. Watched as some small fish neared until they caught the scent of her blood flowing from the open wound and swam away like it was poison.

Alicia waited a better part of five minutes before taking her leg out of the water to wrap the strip of her coat around her bleeding wound. Securing it tightly, she took in her surroundings visually. The sun was just starting to set- which meant she needed to find a place to hide from the predators for the night. She recognized the area- had explored this part before with a some recruit's a few years back. There was something about the area that had a flaw. A flaw that she couldn't help but feel was significant. Important for her safety.

As she got her jacket through her arms once more, it was when she stiffened. She remembered just as she heard the growl to her left. Shit.

Velociraptors. This was the danger. There were few but they were still dangerous. Had she a gun, this would be no problem. Had she a weapon of any kind, she would have a fair chance. Unfortunately, thus was not the case.

She stared at the creature as it stared at her. It tipped it's head to the side, gauging her, judging to see how dangerous a threat Alicia was. Well, Alicia thought to herself, if she was going to die, she was going to go standing.

With much effort, she got to her feet but leaned most of her weight on her left leg to favour her right one. The raptor made a shriek, seeing her defiance as a challenge and charged her.

It was now or never. Do or die.

When the moment was right, Alicia dived.

She was moving roughly over the ground. Her limbs, save for her left arm, were being dragged over the jungle floor. More than once her head hit a fallen log, her legs got caught in underbrush. The thing- the raptor- dragging her further into the jungle- had it's teeth pierced through her jacket, dug into her arm. Had her jacket not been leather, her arm most likely would be a chewed to unrecognisable measures.

Alas, it was not. She had pulled her jacket on at the right time. Opening her eyes, she registered the sky was dark with the moon high in the sky, illuminating everything around her exposed under the trees in brilliant hues of silver. Alicia looked ahead of her and blanched. A nest. A god damned nest of baby velociraptor awaited her.

Instinctively, she grabbed the sharpest thing she passed- a thick, broken stick. It wasn't much but it would help her. Ten feet away. Ten feet. It was now or never. Funny how the last time she thought of that, she ended up being beat by a dinosaur and dragged unconscious through the forest floor.

Faster than she ever thought capable in her condition, Wash brought the stick up and rammed it down through the dinosaur's leg. It pierced. The thing screeched, let her left arm go. Wash took the stick out and jammed it in it's neck when it bent to get a look at what she'd done.

Blood poured everywhere from the raptor as it clucked it's throat, tried to swallow and couldn't. Tried to maul Alicia for her rebellion and couldn't. It fell to the ground on it's side. Alicia watched it a moment, watched as it suffered before going motionless. She got to her feet and looked around, eyes landing on the nest of baby raptors and made for the direction she was dragged in.

It wasn't safe, she was bleeding- limping- but her desire to survive far out weighed any aches, any unbearable agony she had felt before. The adrenaline rush saw to it she felt nothing cold hard determination to survive. It saw to it she found a climbable tree not far from the clearing to rest in for the night. Her right leg made the ordeal difficult, gave out twice and had her gasping from both pain and surprise. Tears prickled her eyes but she refused to shed them. Refused to give into the silly urge. They wouldn't stop the pain. They wouldn't alert Nathaniel she was still out here.

She gripped branches on either side of the tree closest to her and pulled herself up, used her good leg to help make her hoist smoother. With a grunt, she settled into the middle of the seat-like tree. It was concealed by the other branches intertwining around each other, offering her shelter from the predators of the night. With a deep breath, she looked around carefully, wary of resting in such a dangerous place with no weapon to defend herself with.

Moments passed and it soon mattered not if she was too wary to rest. Exhaustion took over her senses. Took her body and relaxed her into the trunk of the tree she rested against. Her eyes shut before she was even aware they were closing. Behind her eyes, through the darkness beyond her lids, she saw Nathaniel's face and for now, it was enough.