Author's Note: Fill for a LiveJournal Friday one word prompt - "Quarantined" for Wash and Elisabeth. Was originally imagined as a few chapters, but bloomed into six. Story is complete and previously published on LJ.

Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense – just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.

Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine (except Gracie, of course), just borrowing.

"Elisabeth, this is Alicia. You there?" Alicia is crossing the plaza, heading for the infirmary. She has plans to meet Elisabeth for lunch, and she's running late.

"Alicia, this is Elisabeth. I'm here. I'm running a bit behind; can I just meet you in the market in ten minutes?"

Alicia grins. "Sure, Elisabeth. I was running late myself."

"And by the way, your husband has invited himself to lunch. He's here with Malcolm and Mira, looking at some plant samples." Elisabeth sounds a little hassled.

"Understood. Do you need me to tell him no? Is that what's up? You sound a little out of sorts." Alicia frowns a little. She knows that Nathaniel can be a little bossy when he wants to get his way.

Elisabeth laughs. "No, that's OK. You know he doesn't bother me. I'm just nervous. Malcolm is using my scanner to look at this plant sample, but it's a pretty toxic plant. We've figured out that if a person inhales too much of it, it can cause a significant respiratory issue that can spread quickly once it's airborne. Mira said they lost three people to it several years ago, and Malcolm wants us to develop an effective treatment as a precautionary measure. He thinks he has it, actually another plant, but his scanner is on the fritz."

"OK, given the length of that explanation, I'm guessing you're avoiding them?"

"Good call. Malcolm is being a little pushier than I appreciate." Elisabeth's hassled tone returns.

Alicia is about to reply when she hears an alarm sound through the comm. "Elisabeth?"

Instead of a response, she hears Elisabeth yelling, "Lock it down! Lock it down!"

After that, she loses the comm connection. She heads towards the infirmary at a dead run, re-activating her comm and calling, "Elisabeth? Nathaniel? Mira? Someone please respond!"

A moment later, she heaves a small sigh of relief when she hears Nathaniel's voice, but her relief is short-lived. "Alicia, we're locking the infirmary down, no one in or out."

"Nathaniel, what just happened?" Alicia can't help but start to feel a little frantic.

Instead of Nathaniel responding, it's Elisabeth. "Alicia, Malcolm was moving the canister with the toxic plant in it when he tripped and fell. The canister broke open. He almost certainly breathed in quite a bit of the toxin from the plant. Skye was in the room with him, but she wasn't as near to the plant as he was."

"And you and Nathaniel, and Mira?" Alicia arrives at the outside of the infirmary, feeling completely helpless.

Nathaniel's voice returns, sounding a little tinny, almost echoing. "Mira and I were out in the hall, Alicia, and Elisabeth was actually in her office. Malcolm knew the protocols, so he shut down ventilation immediately. Those of us who weren't in the room just put on rebreathers right now."

Elisabeth breaks back in, her voice sounding tinny like Nathaniel's. "We're on complete quarantine, Alicia. As Taylor already said, we're on lockdown."

"What can I do?" She's desperate for a task, something she can do to help.

Nathaniel responds, "Get Guz, Carter and Shannon. Malcolm is continuing his testing, but he's almost one hundred percent certain that the sample treatment he has is the right one. The only problem is that it was a tiny sample. We're going to have to send people out to get more of it."

"OK, Nathaniel. I'll pull them together now. I'm also going to get Reynolds and Reilly to get a rotation set up. We need security at the infirmary to keep people away."

"Good thinking. And Alicia, we're all right. Do you hear me? We're all right."

She takes a deep breath. "Stay that way, OK?"

"We'll do our best. Call us back when you have Guz, Carter and Shannon assembled. Use my office – we can do a live feed off of network cameras instead of relying on the comms."

"Copy that, Nathaniel. Washington out." Alicia has to pause and take another deep breath before calling the others.

Twenty minutes later, Reynolds and Reilly are already setting up a duty roster for the infirmary security detail, and Alicia, Carter, Guz and Shannon are assembling in Nathaniel's office in the command center. All three of the men had briefly melted down at the news of their respective significant others being inside the locked-down infirmary. Understandably, the most upset of the three was Carter, once he found out that Skye was near Malcolm when the accident happened.

Alicia prepares to call the infirmary, steeling herself. She knows she and Nathaniel are about to have a major disagreement in front of the others. She fully intends to lead the OTG team to go collect more of the cure plant, and she knows that Nathaniel will be vehemently opposed to that idea.

Whether he likes it or not, though, she's going. She already talked to Maddy, and Maddy and Mark, married just last month, will be watching Gracie for her. Before she leaves to go OTG, she'll go talk to her precocious two-and-a-half year old, to explain where she's going and to explain why her Daddy isn't taking care of her.

She looks up as Carter, Guz and Shannon all come in, Shannon and Carter with their packs already on their shoulders. She nods to all three, and then she starts the feed. "Washington to Taylor, come in, Nathaniel."

A moment later, her husband's face appears on the screen, and Elisabeth is sitting next to him. "We're here, Alicia. Report?"

"Security detail is set up, Nathaniel, and the soldiers are also getting the word out that the infirmary is temporarily closed. Reilly is talking to the docs who weren't on duty, and they're trying to set up an emergency clinic, likely in the market plaza." Alicia runs through the easy stuff first.

"Good. And is the OTG team assembled?" He is already giving her a hard look, so she assumes that he's already guessed what she's going to say.

"It is, Nathaniel," she pauses, "Carter, Shannon, Reilly and I will be leaving within the hour. We just need the images of exactly what we're looking for."

"Alicia, no. You need to stay here." He's shaking his head, and Elisabeth also looks less-than-pleased at the news that Jim is going with them.

"Negative, Nathaniel. I'm going. Maddy and Mark will be looking after Gracie. Guz is going to be here, in charge. It'll be fine." She isn't going to argue with him about this.

"No, Alicia, you need to…"

She doesn't let him finish. "I need to get that Goddamned plant, Nathaniel. I'm going." His eyes flash in irritation with her, and she knows they'll be having words about this later.

"Give us the room for a moment." OK, maybe they'll be having words now.

She turns to Carter, Guz and Shannon. "Just a minute, guys."

They all nod and quietly step out, and she sees Elisabeth do the same on Nathaniel's end. She waits until they're both alone. A moment later, it's just the two of them. Her eyes are soft and pleading when she looks at him, and her voice drops a little. "I need to go, Nathaniel. I can't just sit here. Would you be able to? It's not just for you. It's for Elisabeth, Malcolm, Skye, Mira, all of you. I need to do this."

His face, initially stormy, takes on a resigned expression. He sighs. "Damn it, Alicia."

"We'll be OK. And you know that with me driving, we'll be fast, too."

He shakes his head. "I don't like this."

"I know you don't. But I'm not wild about you being quarantined in the infirmary, either. And, my best friend is there, too. It's shaping up to be a pretty crappy day, you know." Alicia gives him a game smile.

"What, I'm not your best friend anymore?" He sounds slightly put out, but the look in his eyes tells her that he's kidding.

She rolls her eyes at him and she yells to the guys to call them back in. Elisabeth also returns, sitting once again next to Nathaniel. She looks as unhappy as Nathaniel. "Jim, Alicia, you two be careful, do you hear me?"

They both nod, and Jim says, "We will, Liz. We'll all take care of each other."

Carter speaks up. "How is Skye?"

Nathaniel nods. "Thus far, she's clear, Carter," he turns to Guz, "And Mira's all right too, Guz. But Malcolm's already showing signs of infection." They all tense at that. "So, time is of the essence. We just sent information about where you need to go to your plex, Alicia. It's less than a day by rhino."

"OK, Nathaniel. You all take care, all right?" Try as she might, she can't keep the note of worry out of her voice. She turns to look at her friend through the camera. "That means you too, Elisabeth. I finally have a female best friend. Losing that is not an acceptable option."

Elisabeth smiles. "Understood, Alicia. Look after my husband, please, and I'll keep an eye on yours."

Alicia nods. "Done, Elisabeth." She looks at Nathaniel again. "We'll check in tonight, Nathaniel."

"Be safe, Alicia. Please be safe." Their eyes lock, and a dozen different thoughts pass between them, silent communication developed over the course of the last twenty years.

Instead of replying, she just nods and says, "Washington out." They shut down the camera, and they all jump up, her heading to the preschool to see Gracie, and then home to pack up to go. As she runs towards Gracie's school, she finds herself quietly chanting, "Please be OK" over and over again under her breath.

Half an hour later she, Shannon, Carter and Reilly are piled in a rhino, Alicia at the wheel, and they tear out of the colony gate under the warm, early afternoon sun.