Disclaimer: Yeah, like this would ever happen on the show! Ron Moore and his people own the characters. I own a PC, a fertile imagination and that's about it, so don't sue.

Timeline: Post 'The Hand Of God'

A/N: This is in response to Esozia's challenge on the Roslin list.

In These Arms

By Socket

Everyone is smiles, cheers and jubilance incarnate. Lee looks about for Roslin to share it with, but she's not here. He sees Starbucks face, sees her broad smile, sees his father's look of pride and he's happy to have this moment with them, but he wants Laura to share in it with him. He did this for her, because she's the only one who believes in him so completely, and she isn't here.

Apollo feels his stomach tighten with disappointment. He puffs on his cigar and imagines her in the operations room - eyes shining with relief that the mission has been a success. He sees her smile, slightly nervous, but larger-than-life and imagines her voice saying gently. "You've managed to save the day again, Captain Apollo!"

He makes his way across the flight deck, meeting friends with embraces and smiles, and he wants to escape it all, wants to be with her, wherever she is. Is she staying away on purpose? Does she think she doesn't belong here? Was there other vital business that needed attending to? If that's the case, he wants to be helping her with whatever crisis could have arisen.

He feels anxious as he exits the flight deck; he begins walking and quickly picks-up speed. He jogs along one corridor, turns the corner sharply and runs down the next corridor. He doesn't know where he's going, he's following his instincts – he'll find her, he always does.

He's running blindly now and then slows as he realises he's near his quarters. Lee stops dead and his mind swirls with possibility. Could she have gone to his room? She wasn't one for public displays of private emotion - when she thanks him on a personal level, she always takes him aside or meets him somewhere quiet, out-of-the-way, where they are free to be themselves. He loves those moments, loves the silences between them, the implicit understanding, the lingering looks.

Apollo stares at the hatch of his quarters, his heart thundering in his chest. He's breathless with hope that she's inside, waiting for him. But fear makes him hope that she's miles away, safe aboard Colonial One, safe from him and his arms and his lips and all the things he'd love to do to that glorious body of hers.

He opens the hatch and enters his room. The light is soft and he sees Roslin sitting, legs crossed, on his bed. Lee feels winded. He smiles instinctively, she smiles back and he closes the door. He faces her, his back pressed against the cool metal of the hatch.

"Madame President," he greets, as if it were an everyday occurrence to have the President of the Twelve Colonies in his quarters.

Laura stands, folds her arms behind her back and smiles warmly at him. "You've managed to save the day again, Captain Apollo!"

Grinning, Lee admits. "When you weren't at the celebrations on the flight deck, I thought you'd skipped out on me."

She takes a step towards him. "I'd never do that, you're my brave defender, I could never skip out on you." Roslin tilts her head sideways, trying to read his expression, then continues. "I came to say thank you, on behalf of the fleet... on behalf of myself."

Lee closes the distance between them, and they've been this close before, but never so completely alone. He reaches out and brushes a strand of hair away from her face.

Laura takes a deep breath, he's her hero, the only one she's ever had and she hadn't considered anything actually happening between them, but his touch is so gentle and she owes him everything, wants to give him everything…

Lee gazes into her chameleon eyes and leans close to her ear. "I don't need words," he whispers and draws gently away from her, his meaning clear. Laura keeps her eyes locked with his as her hands move to his shoulders and rest there, then her body moves forward, pressing-up against him as her lips meet his. Lee's hands circle her waist, pulling her closer, then slide up her back and tangle in her hair.

And actually having Laura in his arms is better than any fantasy, better than all his daydreams about her. He breaks the kiss and leans his forehead against hers, savouring the moment.

She strokes his cheek and smiles, and then their lips fuse amidst passion. Apollo feels his back pressing against the door as she unzips his flight suit and slips her hands beneath the material. And he knows this may never happen again, so he relishes every moment, every caress, every murmur, every glimpse of her.

Lee knows this is love, but he won't tell her - he's sure she already knows, sure she feels it too - words are unnecessary. And he knows he'll never feel this for anyone else, so as he takes Laura in his arms, makes love to her in his bed, feels her body next to his, he promises to protect her, to cherish... because she is his destiny, she is who he lives for.

~The End