Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Minor spoilers for "A Disquiet That Follows My Soul."
Smooth
Since the tillium ship had returned the previous evening, the president had decided that it was time to address the Quorum. The admiral had noted how silent she was though on their Raptor ride from Galactica to Colonial One. Her demeanor did not change as she reached her office. He watched as she frantically yanked open every desk drawer.
"Laura, what is it?" he inquired.
Sighing, she looked back at him. "I don't know if I can face them. I had things I wanted to say before we left Galactica, but do you think they'll really listen to me?"
He placed a hand on her arm, then smiled as he moved to kiss her hand. "After the fiasco Zarek caused by making the fleet's fuel disappear for a while? Of course they'll listen to you."
She looked away, returning to the desk. "I wish I had your confidence. I have to explain why they still have to eat algae pancakes. It's ludicrous to have green pancakes."
"Those do have food value, even if they do remind me of seaweed," he mentioned with a half-smile. When she faced him again, he noticed the worry in her eyes. "Talk to me, Laura."
She sighed in frustration, holding up two small fourths of a pencil. "I ran out of pencils to break."
Chuckling, he placed his hands at her waist, moving to the small of her back. "Then maybe it's time we devised another way to alleviate stress."
His lips crashed into hers, causing her to moan. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. His hands roamed over her back while she found herself moving backward, in the direction of her desk. As they bumped into her desk, he trailed kisses from her jaw line to her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair before his lips found hers again.
Then she heard footsteps and remembered where she was. She put a hand on his chest. "As much as I'm enjoying this conversation, we shouldn't continue it here. Anyone could walk in at any minute."
"Pity." His lips brushed her forehead before he sat down in a chair while she perched herself across from him, sitting on the edge of the desk.
As if to illustrate her point, Lee suddenly entered the room. "Madame President, Admiral, I was hoping to catch you here."
"A little late to be caught," Adama muttered quietly so that only Roslin heard him.
She stood quickly, accidentally knocking the stapler off the desk, onto the floor. She put a hand over her mouth to muffle the giggle. Bill snorted. "Real smooth, Laura."
With that she burst out laughing. Lee eyed the two with concern, as if questioning their sanity. "I didn't… interrupt anything, did I?"
Laura regained her composure while Bill chuckled. "Nope, we were just debating the food value of the mess hall's attempt at pancakes."
She sat down on the edge of the desk again. "That's because they're green. I told you it's ludicrous to have green pancakes." Then she turned to Lee. "Did you want something, Mr. Adama?"
Lee loosened his collar. "Yes. Much as it pains me to give you ships' gossip, it may turn into a big problem if I don't."
"If you think it's that important, then by all means, please continue," she told him, placing one of her hands over the other in her lap.
"Well, you see, there is a faction of people who feel that the government and the military are too closely aligned. They've called it the Roslin-Adama administration, and they're not above suggesting that you two are… I mean that the civilian government is in bed with the military."
Bill wore his stoic façade, only raising an eyebrow. "You're actually worried that they think the smoke they're blowing is newsworthy?"
"Dad, it's more than just 'blowing smoke,'" Lee protested.
During the conversation, Bill's right hand had sought out Laura's left. He grasped it, occasionally stroking the back of it with his thumb. She smirked at Lee, then looked back to Bill. "Oh dear, I believe they've caught us. Whatever shall we do?"
Her obviously melodramatic tone caused them both to laugh. Lee rolled his eyes. "Come on you two. Be serious about this."
Bill let the grin stay on his face, deciding to play with a double entente. "We are serious. Do you really think they have nothing better to do than to speculate what we do with the free time we don't have?"
Lee sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I just came by to pass along information. I think we're finished with this."
Laura glanced back to him. "Good. We'll be back on Galactica in a couple of hours."
Graciously Lee accepted her dismissal, heading for the door, until an errant thought made him turn back to look at them. It was just as he had suspected. They actually were holding hands. And they were grinning at each other like lovesick teenagers. All at once the realization hit him.
It was true.
And he knew he would do whatever it took to let them have their secret, even if it wasn't really a secret anymore.
