MissCallaLily: Thank you so much for reviewing, I have it all planned out and feel in desperate need to murder some people who actually deserve it in the most gruesome way ;)
metube: Thanks, I´m usually not a fan of flashbacks but those short ones work for the story- yeah, I like Liz and Alicia together anyway, they are interesting because they are so very different on some levels and very much alike on others.
I´m using Boylan as some sort of ´deus ex machina´ in here, assuming that he's been around Taylor longer than Wash has which means he´s witnessed their whole history and is the to-go-person if Wash wants information Taylor´s not willing to give her and he also is the only person to know our golden couple well enough to see through some of their schemes.
Interesting that you would mention my Wash-is-always-busy idea, fact is that she turns up all the time while Taylor is having more or less idle conversations and tells him about serious problems he doesn't seem to know about, so it seemed funny to portray her as the one coming up with ideas and him relying on it.
Next chapter will contain spoilers for Proof and VS. and, just like always, I don´t own anything.
Since I like to believe that Taylor and Wash aren´t as ignorant about what´s going on within the colony as it seems on the show, the whole Shannon/Boylan thing will be deliberately planned out by the Master of Strategy, aka Wash and play out accordingly to plan.
(Some things didn´t seem plausible to me, for example the scene when Wash turns up in the brig and pulls Taylor out of an interrogation because of some problems with a power grid, especially in the tone of voice she´s using, so I took the liberty to cook up some background for it.)
In addition, I´m assuming that Taylor not only hinted to Jim that he is having problems with Lucas but that he also told him that his son is working with the Sixers and plotting against Terra Nova, I need those facts since this part will be all about Wash playing Shannon, Shannon playing Boylan and Boylan playing Shannon on Wash´s orders.
Ok, enough rambling, on to the next part.
Wash looked up from the desk, it was already dark outside and she had spend the second day in a row doing almost nothing but paperwork, she was beginning to suspect that the real agenda behind Nathaniel´s sudden urge to go on a fishing trip had been to get away from the tiresome job.
"Hey, Wash, you´re having fun?"
"Sure, Shannon, can´t you see that? Anything new?"
"I think I know who took the Azimeth, a guy named Willy checked himself into the infirmary earlier, he´s high on the stuff and he has some bruises that looks like a sonic blast."
Instantly catching on, Wash nodded.
"Good job, Shannon, tell your wife to keep him overnight, we´ll search his house in the morning."
Looking a bit puzzled at the abrupt dismissal Shannon nodded, then turned and left the office while Wash got up from the desk and dimmed the lights.
Wash made sure Shannon was out of side before once again making her way over to Boylan´s bar where she slipped into an empty boot and looked pointedly at Boylan across the room, beckoning him over to her when he caught her eye.
He hesitated, then said something to Josh before walking over to her and sitting down opposite her.
"Something tells me this is not a social visit."
He commented and Wash nodded.
"You´re right, it´s not- I want to know what Josh gets from Mira in return for the Azimeth."
Boylan´s poker face slipped and Wash leaned back into her seat, her arms crossing over her chest.
"How do you-"
"Come on, Boylan, I´m not stupid, this has your handwriting all over it, no one within the colony could profit from this but you, the boy works here and the list of people with an access card is short, it wasn´t that hard to figure out. Besides I saw your financial records and happen to know that your idiotic friend owes you a lot more money than he can ever hope to come by."
"Does Shannon know?"
"I doubt it, good cop as he may be, he doesn't have the same amount of inside knowledge I have."
"And you´re not sharing."
"Only if it´s necessary, so what about the boy?"
"He has a girl in twenty one forty eight, he wants to get her here and Mira´s the only option."
"What do you mean, Mira couldn´t contact the future, she´d need a portal for that."
"Then she apparently has one, I don´t know how she does it, Wash, she just does it."
Wash cursed quietly, then looked up at Boylan again.
"Do you know what you´re doing, Boylan? This isn´t a game anymore, we need the stuff, we have sick people who depend on it."
Boylan ran his hand through his hair.
"You´re right, I didn´t know that we were so short on it, Mira has an epidemic on her hands and I thought we didn't really need it and could wait until the 11th."
"Fantastic, any idea what I´m going to do now?"
"Trust the boy, if his mother tells him how important the stuff is, he´ll give some of it back to her, he´s a good kid, just lacks a bit of guidance."
"Fine, I´ll wait till tomorrow, if none of it has turned up by then, you´ll talk to him, talk to Mira as well, I don´t care, we need those meds."
"Will do, look, I´m sorry, I didn´t want to hurt anyone."
Wash raised her eyebrow at him and got up without commentating on that statement any further.
After yet another short night, she went to search Billy´s house, not at all surprised when all she could find was one empty bottle.
Shannon got the man to admit that Boylan was behind the break in and Wash decided to give it another day before she decided what to do, it was possible that Josh would come to his senses yet after all.
She had just left the housing unit for the command center when her radio came to life in her pocket.
"Wash, you copy?"
"Copy, where are you?"
"Good question, somewhere near outpost six, probably about five clicks north."
"Did you convince Curran?"
"Yeah, I killed the Komodo and Curran is on his way to Mira now, hope they won´t kill him on sight."
"If he finds them at all, I´ll come and pick you up now, Shannon can babysit the colony while I`m gone."
Taylor agreed and Wash contacted Shannon.
"You can talk to Boylan later, I need you up at command, Guzman is OTG and I´m going to pick up Taylor now."
"I can do that, you should-"
"I´m going and you´re staying here, that´s an order."
"Yes, Ma´am" came the defiant reply and Wash disconnected as she reached the gate.
"Dunham, get me two Rhinos, Reynolds, you take the second one, you owe me a favor, keep close to me, we´re going to bring the Commander back."
Minutes later, the Rhinos tore through the jungle at Wash´s usual impossible speed but she had to admit that Reynolds was getting good at keeping up with her, he was starting to anticipate her maneuvers and she hardly had to slow down for him to keep up.
"Washington to Taylor."
"Copy, Wash, I`m down by the river now."
"All right, meet you there in ten."
She was out of the vehicle as soon as it had come to a proper standstill, laughing when Taylor pressed her up agains the Rhino´s side and kissed her.
"Nathaniel, we´re not alone" she told him but he just shrugged, nodding a greeting towards the second vehicle.
"Knowing you, you brought Reynolds, he´ll hardly tell on us. I´m not happy with you, just so you know, just the two of you out here is a huge risk."
"Guzman is only two clicks south from here with his whole unit, if anything had happened they´d have helped us out."
"All right, I´ll let it slide for once, let´s go, I have enough of this place for a while."
He filled her in on his meeting with Curran on the way back and Wash told him about Boylan and Josh, causing his expression to darken.
"Damn it, Mira is starting to get on my nerves, if at least some of the stuff isn´t back tonight, I´m taking the boy in, no matter who´s son he is."
"If it isn´t, I´ll be happy to help you."
"So she has a portal?"
"Not sure if it´s actually a working portal, probably just some sort of communication device but that´s bad enough."
"It sure is, I´ll need to make another trip to the falls soon."
"Bad idea, Sir, Lucas and Mira will be waiting for something like that."
In retrospect his lack of response should have made Wash suspicious but at the moment she was too relieved to have him back safely to dwell on it any further.
"Taylor to Washinton."
"Copying, Sir."
"I need you up at command, now."
"Is everything all right, Sir?"
"Shannon knows about Lucas, I told him."
"You did what? Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Not over the line, just get up here."
Wash hurried up the steps and into Taylor´s office and almost ran into her CO who was standing just inside the door.
"Damn it, Taylor, what have you done?"
She hissed while slamming the door behind herself, she was furious and she wasn´t afraid to show it.
"Tune it down, Wash, we don´t need the whole colony to hear-"
"We don´t, then why have you told Shannon in the first place?
Tell me because I don't get it, now all you have to do is tell him about your soldier spying on the Sixers for you and then add the dead body underneath some tree or other and we can both walk out of here and go live in the jungle."
Taylor´s arm closed around her waist in an iron grip, pulling her back against him and she struggled, trying to get away from him but his grip just tightened and she stood perfectly still, waiting for him to speak.
"Calm down, Alicia" he breathed into her ear, "it will be all right."
"How" she whispered, "how will it be all right, he´ll figure it out and then it´ll all go to hell."
She couldn´t breathe anymore, choking on the tears she wouldn´t allow to fall she went limp in his arms, relying on him to keep her upright.
"There´s nothing he can do, whom would he tell, whom could he trust, if not me" Taylor soothed her, his free hand reaching up, freeing her hair from it´s knot, making it fall around her face like a curtain.
He twisted his fingers into the dark mass, pulling Wash´s head back against his shoulder, his lips brushing against her exposed throat and she moaned softly, her eyes fluttering shut.
"That´s my girl" Taylor whispered into her ear, "I´d do anything for you, Alicia, anything to protect you, you know that, right?"
She couldn´t speak, her whole body was tingling, her pulse racing, her entire being corrupted by his seduction, being sucked further into the complicated web of lies and betrayal, love and lust, somewhere on the way she had lost herself in him and now there was nothing she could do but be whatever he needed, wanted, asked her to be.
"You trust me, Alicia, don´t you?"
He asked her, his voice perfectly calm but she could detect the edge to it, knew that only one answer would be acceptable.
"Yes, Sir."
She moaned when the grip on her hair tightened and Taylor laughed softly, his lips grazing her temple, his fingers digging into her stomach.
"My perfect little soldier, what would I ever do without you."
He turned her in his arms and she all but melted into their kiss, her nails digging into his shoulders as he pushed her up against the wall.
"You´re so beautiful, so fragile, so easy to break and yet so strong, you´re the only one who really knows me, the only one who matters to me anymore."
That voice, she could have drowned in that voice, so strong and yet gentle, seductive, telling her the most wonderful things, whatever she needed to hear.
His eyes were burning into her´s now, daring her to defy him again, pleading with her to forgive him and she was falling, desperately clinging to her sanity, knowing that she had lost that particular battle a long time ago.
"I love you" she gasped, the intensity of her emotions stealing her breath away, his arms too tight around her waist, his strength too much for her, overpowering, scaring her and making her feel safe all at once.
He sighed, his lips brushing over her forehead as his grip on her loosed and his hands sneaked underneath her top, warm fingers caressing her skin.
"God help me, I love you too" he smiled sadly at her and she knew he was feeling guilty again, guilty that he had allowed her to fall for him so deeply, guilty that he had burdened her with all his darkest secrets, that he had made her his ally in his crimes, if he went down, so would she.
"You need some rest" she told him quietly, "if Lucas found a way to open the portal, things will get interesting pretty soon."
Taylor chuckled darkly as he let go of her and extended his hand, closing his fingers around her´s when she took it.
"That´s one way to put it- come, you´re right, let´s go home."
They had been lying in each other´s arms in silence for almost an hour, Taylor´s fingers tracing patterns on Alicia´s bare skin when he finally spoke.
"I´m scared, Wash."
She turned in his arms to look into his face.
"We knew this would be coming sooner or later, it´s just sooner than we had hoped."
"If Mira can communicate with the future it means that Lucas is almost there, we´re not prepared for an attack, we don't have enough soldiers, how are we supposed to stop them."
"We´ll need more information to come up with a plan."
"Perhaps we were wrong about Boylan, perhaps he has been feeding information to Mira all this time."
"Only one way to find out, bring him in and see if you can get the truth out of him."
"Will do that first thing tomorrow morning."
Wash pressed her lips to his chest, arching against him when his hand trailed over the curve of her hip, his responding laugh was tinged with a darkness that caused shivers to run down her spine.
His free hand laced into her hair, pulling her head up to meet his in a deep kiss that stole her breath away and before she had time to realize what was happening he had rolled them over and was hovering over her, parting her legs with his knee, she wrapped her legs around his waist when he entered her, her hands on his upper arms as he moved above her.
Taylor brought her to the edge quickly, then bend down to her ear, his warm breath making making her moan quietly.
"I love you" he whispered and it was enough, she closed her eyes, the sensation almost too much to bear as she shattered into a million pieces.
He collapsed on top of her and she held him to her, tightening her grip on him when he tried to move, enjoying his weight pressing her down into the mattress.
Finally she allowed him to pull her onto his chest instead, listening to the comforting sound of his heartbeat.
"You turned the klaxon on?"
Wash asked, glancing at the small blinking red light next to Taylor´s desk.
He looked up from his plex pad, following her gaze.
"Yeah, I did, he´s not talking, thought he might need some motivation."
Wash rounded the desk and perched on the glass top next to her CO´s chair, her arms crossed.
"You really think he might know something or is it just payback for all the times he´s annoyed you?"
"Come on, Wash, I´m not that petty."
She shrugged, then glanced back at the dancing light.
"I think that´s enough, you don´t want to kill him, do you."
Taylor looked up at her for a long moment, then leaned back in the chair, running his hand through his hair in frustration.
"All right, go down there and see if you can get anything out of him."
Wash made her way down to the brick, opening the door and turned the klaxon off, then closed the door behind herself and walked over to Boylan who was sitting on the floor with his hands over his ears, eyes shut tight.
She nudged him with her foot and he jumped, then looked relieved when he realized it was her instead of Taylor.
"Hey, Lieutenant" he rasped, his voice cracking from exhaustion, "came to see how I fare in your cozy little prison?"
"You haven´t seen half of it, Boylan, keep talking like this and I´ll give you a tour. Get up."
He pulled himself back up onto his chair and leaned back against a column while Wash remained standing, hands on her hips.
"I recommend you start talking or Taylor will keep you up here until you rot."
"Damn it, how often do I have to tell you folks, I don´t know anything, I have no idea where Mira gets her information, not from me, that´s for sure."
"And why should we believe that? We know you are doing business with the Sixers, we know you have ways to talk to Mira and you didn´t tell me that she is in contact with 2148 until last week, that fact doesn´t go down too well."
"Damn, Wash, I can´t believe you think I´ve sold information to Mira, do you really or is this all Taylor again?"
"He´s not convinced so I´m not convinced."
She shrugged, ignoring Boylan´s exasperated expression.
"Fine, if you don't want to talk to me, you´ll have to talk to Taylor later."
She made her way over to the door when Boylan stopped her.
"Look, I really don´t know anything I could tell him, you can´t keep me up here forever, my business will be ruined."
"If we are right and Mira has a portal, your business is the last thing you´ll have to worry about in the near future."
Wash spat, then she pulled the door closed behind herself and made her way back up to the command center.
"Any luck?"
She shook her head.
"No joy, Sir- we need to get fresh meds to outpost Nine."
"Damn, I forgot about that- I can´t leave the colony, I need to stay here until we´ve solved the spy situation, need you here, too, I´m spending too much time in the brig with Boylan to let you go."
"Guzman won´t be back until tomorrow afternoon, how about Reynolds, he´s done really well these last few months, he deserves a chance to prove himself."
The commander nodded thoughtfully.
"Sounds like a plan, put a team together, they´ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning."
It was almost four in the morning when Wash climbed the steps up to command and made her way down to the brick, sighing when she found Taylor leaning against the wall inside with Boylan asleep on a chair in font of him.
"Are you planning on coming home at all?"
She asked, not bothering to keep the accusing tone out of her voice.
"Hadn´t really planned that out, what time is it?"
"Four am, you´re running yourself to the ground, it´s not worth it."
She looked over at Boylan, then back at Taylor, her eyes narrowing.
"Did you drug him?"
"A little bit."
Wash stepped over to the prisoner and preyed one of his eyes open, then straightened up again and rounded on her CO.
"Looks like more than just a little bit, he´s out cold."
Taylor shrugged.
"Might have used more than I thought."
"Whatever, he´ll wake up again in a few hours- come home, Nathaniel, what´s the point of staying here and watching him sleep?"
He hesitated, then gave in and followed his lieutenant out of the brig.
They walked towards the barracks in silence, entering Wash´s house.
"Are you hungry?"
"No, just tired, let´s go to bed."
"All right, we need to get up again in two hours, see Reynolds off."
"I´ll do that, Wash, you sleep a little longer, it´s not your fault that I spent half the night in the brig."
"But-"
"That´s an order."
Scowling Alicia started to walk towards her bedroom with Taylor right behind her, she kicked her boots off and got out of her jeans before crawling into bed and closing her eyes.
She listened to Taylor undressing, the lights went out and then he slipped onto the mattress next to her, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her into his chest.
"Goodnight, Wash."
He whispered into her ear before pressing as gentle kiss to her shoulder and she couldn´t bring herself to stay mad at him, instead she relaxed against him, her hand finding his, fingers lacing together.
"Goodnight, Nathaniel."
When Wash arrived at the gate, Reynolds and his team had already left and Taylor was talking to Jim Shannon who looked concerned about something.
"Morning Sir, Shannon."
"Hey, Wash" Jim greeted her, "the Commander is taking me to visit Boylan."
The deliberate term was so typical Shannon that Wash couldn´t help but smirk.
"Lieutenant, a word before we go."
Taylor interrupted and Wash followed him out of earshot.
"I can´t help it, if I don´t let him see Boylan he´ll only nag even more."
The Commander sounded displeased but Wash could see his point, Shannon wouldn´t give up and they had a few valiant reasons to remain on good terms with the man.
"You think it´s safe to let him in there while Boylan´s in that state? What if he tells him something?"
"I know but there´s not much I can do, is there."
Wash hesitated for a moment, an idea had suddenly come to her, a crazy idea but…
"Sir, would it be such a bad thing if Boylan told him?"
"Beg pardon?"
"Look, Lucas knows so Shannon is bound to find out sooner or later, isn´t he."
"Probably yes, why?"
"In that case, wouldn´t it be better if he found out now while we still have a chance to explain how we see the situation?"
"Interesting point, Lieutenant."
"If Boylan tells him he´ll go and look for the body, see if he informs you, if he doesn´t, tell him the truth and make him feel guilty about not trusting you, might make him more inclined to do so in the future."
"You know, Wash, sometimes you scare me, have you swallowed those books on strategy they made you read at the academy? I´ll take Shannon up there now, get me out of there under some pretense in fifteen."
"Will do, Sir."
"Right on time, Wash."
Taylor smiled at her, then motioned for her to lead the way down to the office.
"Good thing Shannon´s so predictable."
She shrugged, then added "are you sure Boylan will talk?"
"Can´t say that until Shannon digs up the body."
They had arrived at the office and Wash made sure the windows were closed while Taylor told the men standing guard that under no circumstances they were to be disturbed, then followed his second over to the conference table.
Wash leaned back against it, her arms crossed as she voiced her concerns.
"So let´s assume it works and Shannon digs up the body, how exactly are we going to make him talk to you alone?"
Her CO stepped closer to her, backing her against the table, then lifted her up onto it and stepped between her legs.
"I don´t know, I was hoping you might have an idea, you´re better at that stuff than I am."
Wash gasped as his lips brushed up her neck.
"Sir-"
"Just keep thinking, Lieutenant, I´ll occupy myself in the meantime."
Her eyes fluttered close when his hands pushed her jacket off her shoulders and pulled her top up and over her head, then she moaned softly, his attention doing wonders for her frazzled nerves.
"Well, I´d say frame him with something, arrest him, then tell him you´ll let him go if he keeps his mouth shut."
"Excellent tactics, Wash, any idea how to do it?"
He pulled her bra off and she arched against him when his hand found her breast, caressing the soft flesh while kissing her collar bone.
"Uhm-" she took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heartbeat, "that´s the problem, Shannon is a goddamn saint."
She bit her lip, her head falling back as he pressed himself closer to her.
"Well, you certainly are not" Taylor chuckled as he unzipped her fatigues and helped her to get out of them.
She laid down onto the table, looking up at him as he undid his own trousers before leaning over her, lacing his fingers through her´s and pulling her arms up over her head.
"I hope the problem with the power grid was just a distraction, Wash, I don´t plan on letting you out of here again anytime soon."
Her legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him to her, her muscles tightening when he pushed into her and began to thrust slowly, holding her gaze.
"Sure was, Sir" she gasped, meeting his thrusts by pushing back up against him, all thoughts of Shannon or Boylan long since forgotten.
When Jim walked back into the office, Wash was sitting behind Taylor´s desk, looking at surveillance pictures on the screen before her.
She glanced up, taking in Jim´s nervous expression and leaned back in her chair, careful to keep her face void of emotion.
"Shannon, you look troubled, are you all right?"
"Uhm, yeah, sure- where´s Taylor?"
"The Commander is down by the gate to wait for Guzman- has Boylan told you anything?"
"What, me? No, nothing."
Fighting the urge to ask him if he could be anymore obvious, Wash shrugged disinterestedly.
"Ok then, I suppose I´ll see you later."
Shannon all but ran out of the office and Wash got up, following at a much slower pace.
When she arrived at the gate, Guzman´s unit had just begun to unpack their rovers, the lieutenant speaking to Taylor near by.
Wash stepped over to the men, merely nodding at her CO who instantly caught on and dismissed Guzman before motioning for his second to follow him.
"Shannon could´t get out of command quickly enough."
"I saw him walk towards the lab, any idea to that?"
"Not exactly, let´s go and find out."
Shannon wasn´t there anymore when they arrived but Malcolm told them without hesitation that Jim had been in to ask about Pilgrim´s tree.
Taylor glanced at Wash, then started talking to their science officer about Andrew Fickett while the lieutenant made her way out of the lab again, quickly walking towards her housing unit.
She changed into a pair of dark camo fatigues and strapped her gun back to her thigh, then pulled her hair out of it´s usual ponytail, it would be useful to hide her face later.
The sun was already beginning to set and Wash paced up and down in her living room impatiently, when it was finally completely dark outside, she slipped out of her back door and crept along the outside wall of the barracks, crouching low in the shadows until the night patrol had passed.
Climbing through the fence was easy and Wash quickly made her way out to the tree Taylor had once lived in, she hid in the undergrowth near by and had only waited for a little over ten minutes when Jim Shannon turned up and began to look around at the roots of the tree.
The man was quick to find the body and dug it up and Wash didn´t wait for him to finish, she withdrew quietly, then straightened up and began to jog towards the colony, glad when she didn´t come across any predator on her way back.
She had to wait for a few minutes before she could sneak back inside the fence, two soldiers on patrol blocking her way and when they had moved on, Wash slipped through the lowest gap and pulled out her radio set.
"He´s on his way back" she muttered, then turned the radio off again and continued on to her back door, once again making sure she couldn´t be seen by keeping to the shadows of the barrack´s wall.
She changed into a white tank and black leather trousers before settling down on her sofa with a plex pad, waiting for her CO.
It was almost two hours later that Taylor finally closed her front door behind himself, looking grim.
"You were right, he took then body to the infirmary, probably hid it somewhere to show to his wife in the morning, he saw I was still up at command when he went home, didn´t come up to talk to me."
Wash put the plex pad aside and got up to fetch something to eat from the kitchen, Taylor following her, leaning against the counter.
"Everything went smoothly out there?"
"Made it out and back in under an hour, no problems."
"Still got what it takes, Lieutenant."
She glanced up, smiling lightly.
"If you say so, Sir."
Wash was waiting for Mark to check in again, when Taylor entered the communication center, looking grim.
"Shannon was in the brig, without authorization, I went down there to see what was going on, he outright lied to me."
"Can´t really blame him, from where he stands, this looks really bad."
"Suppose you´re right, Boylan is either starting to crack or he´s provoking me, kept on babbling about beautiful spots and naps in the shade."
The sound of Taylor´s comm interrupted them and he listened intently, his eyes narrowing as he switched the device off again.
"I have to go and see Malcolm, apparently he found out how the Sixers are communicating with their spy, you stay here, wait for Reynolds to check in again, Guz can relieve you later."
"Yes, Sir."
Wash waited for a while, getting more and more anxious, it wasn´t like Mark to discard regulations and finally she lost her patience and tried reaching him herself.
When he didn´t answer, Wash summoned Reilly up and told her to stay there until she was told otherwise before rushing outside and down to the gate.
She met Guzman there, he was instructing his man and looked up, alarmed when he noticed Wash´s expression.
"What happened?"
"I lost contact with Reynolds, he should have checked in forty minutes ago."
Before Guz could answer, one of the guards caught their attention and they turned towards the gate, noticing the rovers making their way towards the colony.
"Raise the gate" Wash yelled, then waited impatiently for the vehicles to come to a stop, running towards Mark when he got out first, he stood at attention but Alicia didn´t acknowledge his formal greeting, instead she reached up to trail her fingertips along a gash at his hairline.
"Mira?"
"Yes, Ma´am."
"This needs stitches, are you hurt anywhere else?"
"No, Ma´am."
"Damn it, Mark, cut the crap, talk to me."
Despite the seriousness of the situation the young man managed a small smile.
"I´m fine, Wash, stop fussing, you´re almost as bad as my girlfriend."
Punching his arm she shook her head, feeling relieved that nothing worse had happened to him.
"I´ll go and get the Commander, stay here, he´ll want to hear what happened first hand."
She found her CO with Malcolm and he followed her outside instantly.
"Reynolds got ambushed, they took everything but the vehicles, I´d just checked in with them when they were hit."
"Mira?"
"She was at the lead."
A fresh surge of hate towards the other woman surged through Alicia when she once again saw the wound on Mark´s head, being kidnapped herself was something Wash could live with but hurting her soldiers was something else entirely.
Taylor told Mark to go to the infirmary and the young man left to check out his team while Wash turned towards her CO, not happy about what she had to tell him.
"I put that convoy together after you had Boylan in the hole. He couldn´t have told Mira where to hit them."
Taylor shook his head.
"I don´t trust that reptile."
He hesitated and Wash waited with baited breath, wondering if she might have gone to far with her wordless suggestion to release Boylan but then Taylor turned towards her, his expression resigned.
"I suppose you´re right, let him go."
"Sir."
She started walking towards the brig, pausing briefly to watch Maddy Shannon all but tackle Reynolds, the girl was babbling again but Mark looked utterly charmed by his girlfriend´s concern.
Thinking how nice it must be to be so young and innocent, Wash continued on and found Boylan asleep on the floor, his skin sickly pale, hair sticking out in all directions.
She crouched down next to him and shook him awake.
"You can go" she told him, waiting until he had managed to stand up before handing him a jug with water, watching as he gulped it down eagerly.
"Thanks, Wash."
"What for?"
"Ah, come on, I know whom I have to thank for getting out of here, Taylor wouldn´t have dreamed of it without some means of persuasion."
Wash shrugged, motioning towards the door.
"I´d suggest you cut this short before I start asking about your last conversation with Shannon."
Boylan sighed.
"How do you know about that now?"
"I took a little walk tonight, might have stumbled across our good cop out at Pilgrim´s tree."
Boylan nodded, not looking surprised.
"Look, I don´t know how you do it and I´m not even sure I want to know but I didn´t tell him on purpose, couldn´t even remember telling him, Taylor put something in my food."
"Shannon will ask more question, answer them."
"Trust me, of course I won´t- what?"
"I said answer them."
"Why on earth would you want me to do that?"
"Shannon knows about Lucas, about him trying to find a way to communicate with Hope Plaza and that he´s working against us, Taylor told him that already."
"Why-"
"Shannon´t not going to tell you that, he doesn't trust you anymore than he trusts Taylor right now."
"So what, I just tell him the truth?"
"Foreign concept to you, isn´t it- yeah, you tell him the truth."
Boylan was still looking suspicious.
"You´re going to frame me again, right?"
"Why should we? You´re not the spy, what reason would we have to keep you here?"
"Yeah, why indeed- either you have a brilliant plan, or you´re finally cracking, Lieutenant."
"That´s for me to know and for you to find out- now get out of here, I have other things to do."