Possessed (2/2)
Title: Possessed (2/2)
Character/Pairing: Nathaniel Taylor/Alicia Washington, Mark Reynolds
Word Count: 1147
Rating: PG
Spoiler alert: N/A, pre-series
Summary: . The fact that it had only taken a few hours to decide on his fate could be a blessing or a curse. He wasn't sure. He hated not being sure.
Author's Note: People mentioned this, and my muse is weak. A little epilogue to Possessed - comeuppance is a fine thing.
It had only been a matter of hours since he had stood on Alicia Washington's front porch and listened to her fuck her CO on a night he intended to do the very same. But, as far as the colony's gossip mill was concerned, that was plenty time enough.
There had been eyes on him from the moment he entered the commissary that morning and they were still there now, gleefully watching as he forced his feet to mount the stairs to central command. He had no idea what awaited him inside - who, he was certain, but not what - though what he'd overheard that morning alone had been enough to send shivers down his spine.
He expected to leave with his life. Probably.
All of his bits in the right place? Perhaps.
The talk in the locker room when he'd stopped in after a morning session in the gym had solely focussed on his fate, and did not abate when he entered the room - if anything it intensified. The word 'banishment' had been bandied about with such enthusiasm. He didn't think he'd done anything quite worthy of that - maybe if he'd gone through with his stupid plan it would be a different matter.
Instead, he expected to be made to suffer far longer and more consistently for daring to consider it. The fact that it had only taken a few hours to decide on his fate could be a blessing or a curse. He wasn't sure.
He hated not being sure.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Peter asked, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him.
Nathaniel Taylor, grand high overseer of Terra Nova, sat behind his ridiculous dinosaur desk. Alicia occupied the space behind and to his right, as usual. They both wore barely-suppressed anger on their faces at the sight of him and, in that moment, it scared the hell out of him.
"Ah, Doctor." Taylor said, sounding almost bored and blatantly ignoring his rank in favour of his professional qualification. "Come on in."
Alicia handed Taylor a datapad, leaning over him with a hand on his shoulder to point something out. She ran her hand up and down gently as she spoke words too quiet for Peter to hear, her comfort with the older man clearly returned.
Though after the previous evening, that much? Had already been pretty damn obvious.
"You've been reassigned." Taylor said at length, throwing the datapad towards Peter so it skidded to a stop just before the edge of the desk.
"Oh?" Peter asked, taking a step forward and seeing a map displayed on the pad. Maybe this was the best thing for all involved. "May I ask where, sir?"
"We're in the process of setting up our seventh Outpost. Military rather than scientific, to give us a base out in the jungle should we need it." Taylor pointed to a flashing dot on the datapad.
"But sir, that's barely a klick south of where we think the Sixer encampment is!"
Taylor leaned forward to look at the map. "So it is!" He said with a bright smile. "Bet you'll be busy then, they love an ambush."
Peter felt a million complaints building within him, his lack of recent military experience nearly allowing them to spill out without his conscious permission. At the last minute he bit his lip and nodded his acceptance. Now that he was back in a command structure, he literally had no choice in the matter.
"It will be a lengthy residential mission, while the outpost is set up and then, subsequently, run. Hope you like camping out - the building work isn't quite finished." The man's eyes sparkled with amusement which, when coupled with the way Alicia's head ducked to hide a smile, told him that Taylor knew the exact opposite was true - Peter hated camping out, it was one of the reasons that eased his decision to leave the military. He'd told Alicia so, not considering she would ever have a time to use the knowledge against him.
"Yes sir." Peter said. "Will I be the only medic, sir?"
Taylor shrugged. "For now. No point assigning two of you straight off when one might get eaten within a few weeks."
Alicia smiled openly then, looking down at Taylor in amusement.
"One last thing, Doc." Taylor said, pulling the datapad back towards him. "Convoy leaves in an hour. Best get packed up, your room in the barracks has already been reassigned."
Resigned to his fate, Peter turned to leave (a stupid, rookie, thing to do - never turn your back on the enemy), trudging to the door. Just as he reached it he flinched at the sound of something sailing through the air by his head and nearly jumped as a knife embedded in the wood inches from his nose.
Alicia was a good shot. He knew as much from when she'd administered the weaponry proficiency test he'd had to pass to redraft into Terra Nova's security forces. If she had wanted to hit him, he'd be dead on the floor with a blade in the back of his head. She'd missed on purpose. It was a warning.
Taylor made a noise of appreciation, unconcerned about the damage to his office. "Nice shot, Wash."
"Thank you sir."
Think you could make it again?" He asked.
"Given due cause, yes sir." Alicia responded.
Peter knew better than to stick around after a threat like that. It was time to pack up and get the hell out of the colony while he was still in one piece. He made his way back to his barracks quarters to do just that, ignoring the surprised looks he was getting at the fact that he didn't appear to be physically harmed after his meeting.
He felt a tap on his shoulder after he passed the locker room and turned to find one of the young guns - Reynolds, he thought - looking at him blankly.
"They done with you?" He asked.
Peter chuckled dryly. "Better believe it kid."
Reynolds smirked. "Good." He said, before pulling his arm back and decking him.
Peter, stunned, lay flat on his back on the floor, hand pressed to his aching jaw as he stared daggers at the little bastard. "Did you see that?" He cried to the assembling crowd.
"No sir." One of the older gunnery sergeants said.
"Not a thing, sir." A younger female medic added.
Peter pulled himself to his feet, fuming. "You're all insane."
"No, sir." Reynolds said. "It's called loyalty. Don't expect anyone around here to show it to you now. I hear it helps, out there. Should have considered that first, sir."
With that the audience retreated back to wherever it had come from. Peter winced, running a hand along his jaw.
Maybe banishment wouldn't have been so bad after all.
← Chapter One
Character/Pairing: Nathaniel Taylor/Alicia Washington, Mark Reynolds
Word Count: 1147
Rating: PG
Spoiler alert: N/A, pre-series
Summary: . The fact that it had only taken a few hours to decide on his fate could be a blessing or a curse. He wasn't sure. He hated not being sure.
Author's Note: People mentioned this, and my muse is weak. A little epilogue to Possessed - comeuppance is a fine thing.
It had only been a matter of hours since he had stood on Alicia Washington's front porch and listened to her fuck her CO on a night he intended to do the very same. But, as far as the colony's gossip mill was concerned, that was plenty time enough.
There had been eyes on him from the moment he entered the commissary that morning and they were still there now, gleefully watching as he forced his feet to mount the stairs to central command. He had no idea what awaited him inside - who, he was certain, but not what - though what he'd overheard that morning alone had been enough to send shivers down his spine.
He expected to leave with his life. Probably.
All of his bits in the right place? Perhaps.
The talk in the locker room when he'd stopped in after a morning session in the gym had solely focussed on his fate, and did not abate when he entered the room - if anything it intensified. The word 'banishment' had been bandied about with such enthusiasm. He didn't think he'd done anything quite worthy of that - maybe if he'd gone through with his stupid plan it would be a different matter.
Instead, he expected to be made to suffer far longer and more consistently for daring to consider it. The fact that it had only taken a few hours to decide on his fate could be a blessing or a curse. He wasn't sure.
He hated not being sure.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Peter asked, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him.
Nathaniel Taylor, grand high overseer of Terra Nova, sat behind his ridiculous dinosaur desk. Alicia occupied the space behind and to his right, as usual. They both wore barely-suppressed anger on their faces at the sight of him and, in that moment, it scared the hell out of him.
"Ah, Doctor." Taylor said, sounding almost bored and blatantly ignoring his rank in favour of his professional qualification. "Come on in."
Alicia handed Taylor a datapad, leaning over him with a hand on his shoulder to point something out. She ran her hand up and down gently as she spoke words too quiet for Peter to hear, her comfort with the older man clearly returned.
Though after the previous evening, that much? Had already been pretty damn obvious.
"You've been reassigned." Taylor said at length, throwing the datapad towards Peter so it skidded to a stop just before the edge of the desk.
"Oh?" Peter asked, taking a step forward and seeing a map displayed on the pad. Maybe this was the best thing for all involved. "May I ask where, sir?"
"We're in the process of setting up our seventh Outpost. Military rather than scientific, to give us a base out in the jungle should we need it." Taylor pointed to a flashing dot on the datapad.
"But sir, that's barely a klick south of where we think the Sixer encampment is!"
Taylor leaned forward to look at the map. "So it is!" He said with a bright smile. "Bet you'll be busy then, they love an ambush."
Peter felt a million complaints building within him, his lack of recent military experience nearly allowing them to spill out without his conscious permission. At the last minute he bit his lip and nodded his acceptance. Now that he was back in a command structure, he literally had no choice in the matter.
"It will be a lengthy residential mission, while the outpost is set up and then, subsequently, run. Hope you like camping out - the building work isn't quite finished." The man's eyes sparkled with amusement which, when coupled with the way Alicia's head ducked to hide a smile, told him that Taylor knew the exact opposite was true - Peter hated camping out, it was one of the reasons that eased his decision to leave the military. He'd told Alicia so, not considering she would ever have a time to use the knowledge against him.
"Yes sir." Peter said. "Will I be the only medic, sir?"
Taylor shrugged. "For now. No point assigning two of you straight off when one might get eaten within a few weeks."
Alicia smiled openly then, looking down at Taylor in amusement.
"One last thing, Doc." Taylor said, pulling the datapad back towards him. "Convoy leaves in an hour. Best get packed up, your room in the barracks has already been reassigned."
Resigned to his fate, Peter turned to leave (a stupid, rookie, thing to do - never turn your back on the enemy), trudging to the door. Just as he reached it he flinched at the sound of something sailing through the air by his head and nearly jumped as a knife embedded in the wood inches from his nose.
Alicia was a good shot. He knew as much from when she'd administered the weaponry proficiency test he'd had to pass to redraft into Terra Nova's security forces. If she had wanted to hit him, he'd be dead on the floor with a blade in the back of his head. She'd missed on purpose. It was a warning.
Taylor made a noise of appreciation, unconcerned about the damage to his office. "Nice shot, Wash."
"Thank you sir."
Think you could make it again?" He asked.
"Given due cause, yes sir." Alicia responded.
Peter knew better than to stick around after a threat like that. It was time to pack up and get the hell out of the colony while he was still in one piece. He made his way back to his barracks quarters to do just that, ignoring the surprised looks he was getting at the fact that he didn't appear to be physically harmed after his meeting.
He felt a tap on his shoulder after he passed the locker room and turned to find one of the young guns - Reynolds, he thought - looking at him blankly.
"They done with you?" He asked.
Peter chuckled dryly. "Better believe it kid."
Reynolds smirked. "Good." He said, before pulling his arm back and decking him.
Peter, stunned, lay flat on his back on the floor, hand pressed to his aching jaw as he stared daggers at the little bastard. "Did you see that?" He cried to the assembling crowd.
"No sir." One of the older gunnery sergeants said.
"Not a thing, sir." A younger female medic added.
Peter pulled himself to his feet, fuming. "You're all insane."
"No, sir." Reynolds said. "It's called loyalty. Don't expect anyone around here to show it to you now. I hear it helps, out there. Should have considered that first, sir."
With that the audience retreated back to wherever it had come from. Peter winced, running a hand along his jaw.
Maybe banishment wouldn't have been so bad after all.
← Chapter One