Jim Shannon woke early. He thought about willing himself back to sleep, but it eluded him so he quietly slipped out of bed and dressed. He thought about making breakfast for the family, but all his attempts were met with everyone telling him they weren't hungry after a few bites. He had to acknowledge he was a failure as a cook. Strapping his pistol on, he decided on a patrol in the early morning dawn.
Colonists were emerging, starting with the vendors cooking breakfast for those who didn't cook for themselves. Jim started across the plaza and noticed a light in the Command Center. 'Taylor must have trouble sleeping. I'll see if he wants to grab something to eat,' Jim thought and changed course bounding up the steps.
Washington finalized her reports and sat the last plexpad down, rubbing the back of her stiff neck. Waking in the pre-dawn hours after sleeping most of the previous day and night, she was shocked to find Nathaniel sound asleep beside her with an arm draped over her waist, nailing her to the bed. Events from the night before resurfaced and a quick check assured her that he was lying with his wounded side up. Carefully she removed his arm and sat up, swinging her feet to the floor. The dizziness was still present, but not so prevalent as to make her want to fall over or throw up. Still she let her elevated head stop spinning before attempting to stand. The last thing she wanted was to fall back onto the bed and wake him. She grabbed clean clothes and boots and went to the living room. Dressing in her uniform for the first time in over a week, she left her hair down and applied makeup to minimize the discoloration and swelling around her left eye and cheek. Quietly she slipped out of her home into the dark, lit with streetlights. Her first stop was a visit with the night guards and they told her other than two carno's crossing the opening, all was quiet and the outposts called in the same. She made her way slowly up the steps leaning heavily on her cane.
As the guards kept watch, the lights of the Command Center was comforting knowing a commanding officer was on within easy call during this difficult time.
Expecting Taylor, Jim stood in stunned silence looking at his dead friend.
Washington finally focused on the footsteps she heard approaching and saw it was light outside and Shannon silhouetted in the doorway, "Do I look that bad?"
"No, you look great for a dead person," Jim quickly recovered his shock and approached Taylor's desk. "I saw you get shot."
"That's what Taylor said last night….no, he said… what was it?" she paused trying to pick through the fog, "oh yes, he said I was dead. How did I become dead with Taylor?"
Jim pulled up a chair and sank down as his knees became jello, "You didn't come with us and…oh shit, I'm so sorry, Wash," he saw her look at him with surprise, "I stopped Taylor from killing Lucas to save you. I put my family over you and Taylor…" he trailed off as a wave of guilt and remorse flushed through him, but would have done the same again and pleaded with his eyes for forgiveness. "I'd do it the same way again, Wash."
"I wish I could remember, but the knock I took to my head left part of my memory missing. Don't look so bad, Shannon. I'm still here so everything must have worked out," she tried to cheer him up and forced a smile, even though it hurt to move the facial muscles in that direction.
"Elizabeth and the kids will be so happy to see you. You sacrificed a lot for my family and I never got a chance to thank you...so thank you," he looked so sincere she got uncomfortable.
"I probably just did my job, and speaking of jobs, I got my reports for Taylor done and need food. Care to help me down the stairs so I don't fall ass over teakettle and break my neck," she struggled to her feet and he saw the cane for the first time laying across the glass as she reached for it.
Jumping up, he rounded the table and gave her a hug.
"I got a hug from Taylor last night and now you. I'll have to get shot more often," she laughed and led the way to the door.
He let her hold his arm tightly and with her other, she gripped the railing while he carried her cane. "Did Taylor fill you in on what happened to bring us back?"
"No, he broke into my be…unit and checked to see if I was there then went to bed. We didn't talk. I was drugged and couldn't follow a conversation anyway." They ate breakfast from an early vendor and Jim filled her in.
"I told Taylor about Chula Chaum? Wonder how I remembered that or why," she mused as she took another bite of melon.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Jim felt responsible for her memory loss and the consequences of his actions.
"Drinking in Boylan's with Phoenix staring at me."
"Do you remember us mounting a resistance?"
Wash thought, "Not really. I vaguely remember seeing you, but not what we talked about. I remember everything from when I woke up in the infirmary, but I do have a concussion and whiplash and am starting to be stiff from the neck up constantly."
"You need to let Elizabeth look at you," he smiled, "Come home with me. Everyone will love to see you."
Washington figured she could walk that far as he lived on the far edge of the settlement houses and she needed exercise. "I can't stride like I used to so you'll have to walk slow."
Jim opened his door to the smell of food being cooked, "Hey everyone," he stopped inside the door and saw Elizabeth in the kitchen and the kids at the table. "Something followed me home, can I keep it?" he stepped inside followed by Washington.
There was dead silence for the space of a few seconds then Elizabeth let out a shout, "Wash, you're alive," followed by the children who jumped up from the table and mobbed her with hugs, all talking at once.
"Sit down," Jim yelled the order and the kids reluctantly stopped touching her and resumed their places.
Elizabeth pushed in and gave her a quick hug, "We thought you had been killed, but you are wounded. That much I can see. Sit down and let me look," she all but pushed Washington into a chair, and with everyone wanting to see the wound, the doctor gently pushed the hair back and looked at the slash to the skull and swelling. "Who treated you?"
"Ogawa."
"She did a good job. I don't have to do anything. You'll heal just fine. Do you have a concussion?"
"And whiplash," Wash was grateful when the doctor stepped back and gave her some space. As a rule, she didn't like people touching or crowding her.
"Have you eaten?" Elizabeth hurried back to her frying pan.
"We did, how about more coffee?" Jim headed to the kitchen where he planted a kiss on his wife's cheek and they exchanged a smile, happy and relieved their friend was alive.
"I'll take coffee," Wash turned her attention to the kids who filled her in with their versions of what transpired.
They were still talking when Washington's radio sounded, "Washington."
"Mornin Wash, where are you?"
"I'm with the Shannon's," she noticed talking stopped so they could hear the Commander.
"I woke up and you were gone. Meet me at the office."
"Yes, Sir," Washington pressed the off with a slight movement to her thumb, deciding whether or not to get up and hobble off or face the music.
Maddie solved her dilemma. "You are sleeping with the Commander?"
That comment drew her gaze from studying the radio. She looked at Josh first who was trying not to laugh, then to Zoe who didn't understand, then to Maddie who was red in the face. She was sure it matched her own.
"No. He took some of my pills and passed out at my place. If we were having a relationship, he wouldn't have broadcast it all over," she hoped the kids bought it and looked at Elizabeth next. She was obviously not buying that explanation and looked like she wanted details. Finally, she met Jim's eyes and he was clearly unhappy. "Taylor's waiting. You want to make sure I get back in one piece, Shannon," she stood and reached for her cane leaning against the back of the chair.
With a glare to his eldest daughter, Jim rose and followed. "I don't want you and Taylor giving my daughter any ideas," he vented when they were well away from the house.
"I'm sure Reynolds and Maddie are covering the idea part all on their own," she wasn't taking the fall for what his daughter might be doing.
"You tell my kids that Taylor and you are not doing anything. They might believe it, but I doubt it, and I don't."
"If you have a problem with what Taylor said, take it up with him, not me," Washington shut up and was silent for the walk to the office leaving Jim to ponder this new development.
Taylor looked up from his reading when they entered. He noticed neither were smiling and figured they'd be in a better mood. "Are you up to working today, Lieutenant?"
"Yes Sir," she sat in the chair Jim vacated earlier.
He looked at Shannon who was scowling at him, "Anything wrong?"
"You said on the radio you woke up and Wash was gone, and you said it in front of my kids. Now they think you two are…," he trailed off.
Washington and Taylor exchanged glances and both looked to Shannon then back to each other. Finally, Taylor grinned at her, "I finally got into your bed. How was it for you?"
"Not bad, those pills were wonderful. Speaking of which," she pulled a small container from her jacket pocket and opened it. "These are the daytime version, want some?"
"Sure," he caught two that she slid across the table in his direction. "Jim, be a good fellow and get us cripples water would you."
Jim went to the water dispenser, ears burning red, and filled two white cups, setting one on each side of the table, "So you did spend the night together?"
"I never denied we spent the night together, get your mind out of the gutter," Washington snapped and swallowed her pills.
"Well, when two people of the opposite sex, over the age of thirteen, spend the night together; I usually only draw one conclusion."
"It would be a physical impossibility with my body recovering from a stab wound, Shannon," Taylor didn't want to expound further.
"Oh," Jim caught his impotence reference, "you could have just told me," and being Jim, he just couldn't leave it alone. "You're not like that all the time are you?"
Washington snickered.
"No, it mainly happens when you're around," he picked up the plexpad and turned it on. "Wash, I haven't read all the details of the fatalities, but you did a good job detailing what happened. Are all the bodies in the cavern morgue?"
"That's where we placed them as the Phoenix wouldn't allow burial details; didn't want to expend their manpower guarding gravediggers."
"I'm putting you in charge of overseeing the burial. We'll have one mass funeral with the colonist attending and markers for everyone at the site ahead of time, so the bodies already buried and families can see where they are laid to rest. Get civilian volunteers to do the prep work and use our soldiers as guards. Take extra eyes in case Mira is hanging around."
Washington made notes on a plexpad, "It'll take about two to three days to be ready and that's if we don't have visitors."
"Send out a general message the funeral will be held in the afternoon of the fifth, which is a Saturday and we'll have a colony wide memorial service in the plaza, then a smaller graveside service for each person we know. I'll send the hunters and fishers out to find meat. After what the kids have been through, we need something for them. Ask the teachers to come up with ideas," he watched her taking notes and basked in her proximity. His world was coming together again with her sitting across from him and he let his eyes devour her face as she wrote.
Ever observant, Jim took in Taylor's coveting in silence. The only thing that may have kept last night platonic was their wounds, but he'd put money that soon they would cross that line now that they didn't have superiors to answer to. "Wash, do you want me to prep the gravesite?"
Washington looked over at Jim, sitting at the end of the desk in a chair he pulled up, "If you want. You can place the stones and verify the holes are to specs for the coffins. We'll take them out on trucks in the morning and cover before the service."
Guzman came in and greeted Washington with a squeeze to her shoulders, "Glad to see you cheated death once again. How many lives have you used up now?" he joked.
"I think that may have been the last one, Guz, and I can't look up at you with what the shock wave did to my neck."
"It's a good thing you can't see him, Wash. He's uglier now than when we left last week," Taylor smiled at Guzman.
"Speak for yourself, Commander. Now that we have a finite number of women in the colony, I'm actively hunting one stupid enough to marry me. How bout you, Wash, how many proposals have you had in the last two days?"
"I woke up with some guy in my bed, but he didn't propose so I'm still on the market," Washington grinned at Taylor.
"That knock to your head hasn't stopped you from telling whoppers," Guzman laughed and got down to business, focusing on the Commander first, "Sir, what's my marching orders for today?"
"Organize every warm body you can find and clean the mess up first, then start repairs, fence first, then surveillance dishes and electronics. Buildings last, but get a crew in here to clean this place this morning," Taylor hated the sloppiness the invaders made of his office.
"Guz, I'm taking enough personnel to prep the bodies. I shouldn't need them beyond today if you give me enough," Wash cut in.
"How many is enough?" he moved so she could look him in the eyes.
She thought, "Six, make them helpers in the clinic that can handle blood and mutilations."
"You got it," he left.
"Anything else, Sir?" Washington wanted to get on with her duties.
"Are you up to doing this today? I'm not rushing you am I?" he looked concerned.
"It'll be good to be doing something productive after a week on Boylan's bar stool," she struggled to her feet as Jim rushed to assist. "I'm fine, Shannon," she brushed him off and left with him in tow. She looked at the steps and felt a slight panic set in, but needed to navigate them both ways.
"Don't let her fall, Shannon," Jim looked down into the stern face of Thomas Boylan standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Let me help," Jim took her cane and arm while she held the rail with her other. Together they made the bottom of the steps before he released her. They parted ways unaware Taylor moved to the door when he heard Boylan call out and watched her walk off leaning on her cane. He went back to his desk, first to read the reports filtering in, starting with his second's. Hers was concise, using few sentences for him to get the picture. Finally, he read her account of activities from the time he left the gate to where her memory failed. His lips thinned and he cursed softly. He switched to Shannon's account of events and sent messages to all his soldiers left behind in the colony to submit reports by noon as to their activities and accounting in regards to the commanding officer's locations and activities.
Washington's volunteers accomplished such outstanding work that over thirty bodies, twenty-six soldiers and several civilians killed at the terminus were washed and dressed in record time. The next day she oversaw the placement in the newly finished plain wooden coffins. The wood shop got fast at making them during the sincyllic fever outbreak three years before. She had the coffins loaded and hauled to Memorial Field and placed under the engraved stones Shannon was in charge of. He just finished placing the final stone when she arrived. With old-fashioned straps, they lowered the marked coffins. A volunteer took the small gravedigger and pushed the dirt back into place while another spread grass seed.
Skye Tate was one of her assistants, and filled her in on what happened to the Commander in the field with Lucas, and her part.
"Can I ask you something, Lieutenant?" Skye usually didn't ask the Lieutenant for advice, preferring her special relationship to Taylor.
Washington looked up from her examination of a soldier, "What is it."
"How come you didn't let me help with Kira?"
"I let you see her so you know what she looks like, but if I'm guessing correctly, you have feelings for Josh and I don't want word getting back to him that you prepped the body. He might not like it and it could affect your future relationship."
"I think Kira's death and funeral tomorrow will be a setback for us. He's just not ready and I don't want to push him."
"That's a sign you're maturing. Sometimes when a man loses someone they love, it takes a long time for them to move on."
"Are you referring to the Commander?" Skye figured Washington was in love with him.
"Him and Guzman and Benson to name a few," the girl was too perceptive.
"Commander Taylor talked to me today at lunch and asked how we were doing here. I looked around for you so you could help answer."
"I took the lunch break to prep the little boy. I didn't want all of you to have nightmares. He was torn up pretty badly in the blast."
She hadn't seen Taylor for two days. The day before left her exhausted so she called him to see if he needed her at the end of the day.
"No, Wash. Go take care of yourself," he replied after she filled him in on her day. "And don't navigate the steps in the morning. After you get the bodies in the coffins, take the day off to be fresh for the funeral. I have everything covered and you don't have to give a speech if you don't want to."
"I should say a few words since I was their Commander when they got killed."
"Send me what you're going to say so we don't duplicate. I'll start off then let you have a few words then take over again," he didn't give her time to argue. "I have to get back to writing my part. Are you going to be able to walk to the cemetery?"
"Yes, and can I interest you in meeting me for supper?"
He paused, "No, go ahead. I have to meet with the chaplain yet."
"Goodnight then," she clicked him off. Disappointed, she went to supper alone then stopped by the Infirmary for more cell rejuvenation. Nurse Ogawa was on call and told her she looked much better as she ran the instrument over her neck, limbering the muscles up.
She entered her small home alone remembering how nice it was to have a man in her living room. She briefly wondered if Nathaniel were avoiding her after Shannon's accusations. He was a stickler for proper protocol and appearances mattered most. Taking a rare bath to relax her tired and sore neck muscles, she turned in with more pills as her only companion and added muscle relaxants. Waking, she felt almost normal, outside her limp and left her house sans cane in search of food before donning the uncomfortable dress uniform.
The memorial service was packed with all non-essential colonists and the graveside service just as crowded. Afterwards, the kids played games and won prizes of hard candy and nobody under a certain age got left out. Washington mingled and finally ran into the Commander at dusk. She noticed he seemed to be avoiding her and chalked it up to him being uncomfortable about letting it slip that he woke in her bed. She decided to put him at ease, "Sir, have you eaten?"
"No, Wash. Can't say that I'm hungry," his eyes shifted everywhere but on her.
"Is there something wrong, Nathaniel," she placed a hand on his arm, "we haven't had time to talk since our ordeal."
He finally caught and held her gaze, "I read your reports. Quite frankly I'm disappointed in your performance," he knew this wasn't the best place for a talk of this nature, but they couldn't move forward until he addressed the issue foremost on his mind.
Her hand slipped off his arm. Blindsided, she hadn't expected this. It had been a long time since he directed that horrid phrase in her direction and the last time he did, she got every shit detail for two years. She dedicated herself to work and to prove she was the best officer and soldier at Terra Nova. Hoping to keep her voice steady, she asked, "What did I do, Sir?"
"You were told by this fellow, Weaver, to make yourself visible and you chose to go and get drunk at Boylan's. You could have stayed in the market and encouraged the hostages, planned the resistance instead of waiting for Jim Shannon to save your butt. Let's continue this in the Command Center." Without waiting to see if she were coming, he marched up the steps.
Stunned, Washington couldn't believe this was happening again. She stiffened her spine and did her best to march up the steps like him. She shut the door, but knew if he started shouting the volume would easily carry to the colonist below. She stood, legs apart, hands clasped behind her back, head high, looking at a spot on the far wall.
He rounded his desk and sat down. Looking at her portraying the perfect soldier angered him further, "Oh, now you can act like a soldier. Where were you when the people needed a leader? Oh, yeah, your ass was planted on a barstool. I got the compiled events that led up to you being shot even if you don't remember. Shannon found you drunk off your ass and having a pity party. He had to take control and organize the resistance and that was after he took the brunt of the blast at the terminus. It was he that saw my code on the bullets, something you should have been volunteering in the clinic and found. He was the one who planted most of the locators on the vehicles we took. And when I ordered you to join me for a push back, you disobeyed and got shot," he stood and rounded his desk to stand close in front of her. "Look at me." When she complied, he persisted, "I have no choice but to suspend you effective immediately."
"I request a formal discipline in front of the officers."
"You don't want that. I'm trying to keep it quiet."
"I think everyone would know if I fail to go to work," she wanted to cry, for the action he was taking and the frustration that she couldn't remember all she did or why. She did remember how she felt handing over the colony and choosing Boylan's as her place to lick her wounds. She didn't remember the so-called resistance that Shannon led.
"It's my right to be castigated publically in front of my officers. That's what I want," she repeated.
"Very well, tomorrow morning I'll convene your formal discipline hearing, right here. Be present at O'eight hundred. Dismissed, Lieutenant," he watched her sharply turn and march out. To her credit, she didn't slam the door, but shut it softly.
Taylor sat back down with a heavy heart. He hated having to correct his officers, but they had to be superior to everyone else and Washington was next to him in power and he expected much from her. The break would be good for her he rationalized. He knew she wasn't well enough to resume her duties even if he needed her help.
Washington didn't remember how she got home or how it happened without anyone stopping her to talk, but she made the safety of her home as shock set in. "Why did you have to be such a bad shot, Lucas," she cursed him, wishing for a drink. She looked through her kitchen cupboards for a bottle that she was sure she had socked away. There it was an old bottle of bourbon that Boylan gave her years ago when they all still were one happy family.
Taylor slowly got to his feet and dimmed the lights. Rejoining the gathering, he looked to see if Washington were mingling. He didn't see her. "Hey, Shannon, have you seen Wash?"
"I saw her struggle to get down the steps of Command. She was holding the rail with both hands because she decided to try today without her cane. Before I could get separated to help, she beat me to the ground and took off. Is she alright?"
Taylor looked around, thankfully, nobody was paying them any attention, "I will officially suspend her for her actions in the morning. You'll get the message in a couple hours."
Jim was stunned, "I don't understand, she didn't do anything wrong."
"She's a soldier and under the act of war, she is supposed to act a certain way. She…," he stopped talking. "The military has to set the example," and walked off leaving Jim stunned.