TN Wash's Return
Chapter 2: Discovery and Confusion

Pairing: Wash/Taylor

Characters: Ensemble

Genre: Ship, Angst, ETA(editing turn around)
Rating: Pg-13
Warning: Angsty fun, but no death of main characters
Spoiler Alert: All of Season 1

Summary: Post finale - As the colony gets restored, Taylor realizes a pulse pistol at close range should make someone fly several feet instead of drop straight to the ground. Taylor searches and finds his answer.

AN: This is what I believe/hope happened. This is my happy ending. It's the only way I can make sense of what happened because the ship must continue. And, we all know those pulse/sonic pistols made Josh fly across the room when he shot that cabinet. In this fic, Taylor has not professed to Wash that he likes her romantically yet.

After several hours of searching the colony again, Taylor finally took a break at Boylan's bar. He did several shots of single malt Scotch whiskey to feel human again. Didn't work.

"Boylan? Did you hear anything from those bastards about Wash?"

"No. If I do hear any info from anyone, you'll be the first to know. I haven't forgotten about her suggestion to have a statue made in my image. I hope you find her and that she's ok. I like having her around. Since you're rebuilding…"

"It wasn't a suggestion. She was being a smart ass." Taylor's mouth twitched as if he were going to smile. He suspected that was why Boylan said it that way.

Bastard.

"Surely not the Lieutenant. She was neeeeever a smart ass. Here have another on the house." Boylan poured another shot of the expensive liquor.

As Taylor was setting down the shot glass, his eyes caught movement at the door.

Skye walked in with Josh. The two were talking happily to one another about Boylan letting her have a distillery in the back.

Skye froze in mid step seeing Taylor at the bar. She discovered that she could not find the words to say anything Taylor. Her eyes appeared large and sadly hopeful as if asking for forgiveness.

Taylor remembered everything he was told that Skye had done to save the colony. On over a dozen occasions, she ran interference with Lucas. He recounted the descriptions of how Lucas acted toward her, and how he kept touching her face and hair calling her his sister. She practically threw herself at Lucas as a distraction to save Josh and to arrange the ambush to get Jim into the future again. Taylor respected that she disregarded her own safety to save others, but he would have to talk to her eventually about self-preservation.

Taylor tipped his head to her with a slight smile of approval.

Her eyes fluttered as the sadness dissolved from her face. She appeared on the verge of happy tears as if pent up grief were dissolving.

Josh stood between them looking back and forth as other patrons ignored the interaction.

Taylor strode out unable to find any words to say to her as well, but knew they would talk later. He knew things would be ok between them. For now, he needed to finish his second search within the colony. If he found nothing, he would join the search OTG.

He did not make it far when Reynolds and Jim reported to him that they also found nothing.

Taylor pulled Jim to the side, "Jim, could you talk to Skye for me? Ask her. Well. I need to know if there were any patterns when Lucas questioned her. Location. Types of places. Things like that. She's at Boylan's."

Jim returned twenty minutes later, "She said he would have her brought to the Command Center, or he would follow her to Boylan's. Skye said that he liked to talk to her in places she felt safe then he would intentionally try to startle or scare her there."

Taylor stood there unmoving and gave no indication he even heard what Jim was saying.

Somewhere she feels safe other than the Command Center or my housing unit? Somewhere she feels safe, so he can use that against her. Somewhere she feels safe that he can twist into a nightmare. So it's not OTG. Somewhere here in the colony we have not search that she feel safe…

The scowl on his face lightened a touch. "No one searched her housing unit?"

"Um, no. You were there…all night."

"I didn't go inside. I couldn't stand the…" Taylor's voice broke off and he tore out of the room with Jim closely following.

Reynolds saw them running and took off after them, but was not able to gain on them.

"Taylor? Maybe you should let someone else go in there." Jim yelled while pushing himself to keep up.

He ignored Jim as his only focus was his destination and the woman that he now admitted to himself that he loved.

Taylor lunged to the door kicking it open. He spun around several times searching each room before going to the bedroom.

He discovered her unmoving body lying on the floor. The impact of the scene jarred him to the core.

Wash's wrists and ankles were tied behind her back attached to a leg of her bed. Her long dark hair was covering her face.

"Wash?" Taylor breathed heavily. He moved as if in slow motion toward her body willing her to move or look up at him. She did not.

"Wash?"

Jim made it inside the room in time to see Taylor moving Wash's hair from her face.

Taylor was on the floor hovering over her. He jerked out his knife and cut the bonds off of her not able to stand anything that might harm her. Still, she did not move.

Taylor pulled her limp body into his lap and searched her neck for a pulse. "Nothing. No pulse. Wash? Wash?" He started yelling incoherently as rage and loss contorted his face. He had found her only to lose her again.

Jim stepped back unsure of what to do or say as he watched the strongest man he had ever known break in front of him. He was fighting with his own emotions because Wash had been the closest thing he had to a partner here in Terra Nova. Jim staggered a moment and gripped the door frame.

Reynolds entered slowly and moved next to Jim. Both men now had tears in their eyes as they watched Taylor rock the lifeless body in his arms.

Reynolds watched Taylor's heart break before him. Reynolds was reminded of Taylor's reaction when Wash had reminded Taylor, after losing his memory, that his wife was dead. It had been an almost romantic Romeo and Juliet reaction of suicide, but this was much more heart wrenching and volatile.

Jim moved a step forward as if to reach down, "Taylor?"

"Don't touch her! Get the hell out! Get the hell out! She's gone. I couldn't save her. She's gone. You told me to stop that it was suicide. Now, she's dead. I should have acted. It's my fault she's gone. My fault. My fault. My fault. Oh my God. She's gone." His voice started to drop to the point the men could barely hear him as he gripped his arms more securely around her.

"No, you would be dead too. Both of you would be gone. And, they would have found us trying to leave in the vehicles. Her death would have been for nothing. She saved us. She saved my children." Jim whispered.

Reynolds almost dropped to his knees now understanding how close his own love had come to death that day. If Taylor tried to save Wash, Maddy would be dead. He pictured himself sitting there in the floor holding Maddy the way Taylor was holding Wash. He suddenly found it hard to breathe as his eyes burned red with the pressure of it all.

Jim's cop instincts started to function as a timeline of events rolled into focus. "Reynolds. Get Elizabeth. Go get her now."

Reynolds backed out of the room and strode from the unit still half in a daze. He returned some time later with Elizabeth in tow.

Elizabeth gasped putting her hand to her mouth at the sight of Taylor silently rocking Wash in his arms in the floor. Her eyes remained dry, but her face flamed red with emotion.

Jim went to her whispering, "He said she has no pulse. Do you see what I see?"

Elizabeth turned off her emotions and focused as a doctor, "It's been a while. She shouldn't look so…"

"Exactly. We need to get her away from him. He won't let me get near her. I need you to try. Just be very careful." Jim kissed her on the forehead.

"Commander Taylor?" Elizabeth approached Taylor as if he were a Carnotaurus ready to strike.

His wild eyes focused on the sound of Elizabeth's voice as he slowed his rocking motion. "She's gone." Taylor peered down at Wash's face and smoothed her hair back again leaving his hand on the side of her face. His hand delicately pressed her face against his powerful chest. "She's gone."

"Taylor. I understand you say she's gone. I don't want to take her from you, but I just need to check her briefly. I won't hurt her. I won't touch her. Ok?" Elizabeth used her softest voice, while she moved slowly.

He nodded once and watched her with a terrifying intensity that made Jim want to pull her back.

Elizabeth used a handheld scanner to move it over Wash's limp body. Her eyes flashed lively at Taylor, "It's very faint. The scanner can only barely detect it, but she has a pulse."

Taylor's body started to shake as his mouth breathed a prayer, "Save her."

A/N: Ok. I have to take a break for a moment. Ok. She's alive. *closes eyes and starts to feel better for the first time after the finale* Alright, what do you think?