Coding: Laura/Lee with some Roslin/Adama thrown in, just cuz.
Disclaimer: Universal and Ron Moore own everything BSG. All info about nebula's was obtained from too many hours watching ST: Voyager, so, if any of it's technically incorrect - we all know where the blame lies!
A/N: Set after the events of "Home (Part Two)", so Roslin and Lee have just rejoined the fleet.
Second Nature
After the christening of the new flyer, the crew return to work. All except Lee, who escorts President Roslin to the Mark I shuttle that will take her back to Colonial One.
They are standing in the doorway, talking animatedly, when Adama approaches. He sees them laughing together in that hushed, intimate way of theirs and a surge of jealousy rushes through him.
"Sorry to interrupt," Adama states brusquely.
Roslin and Lee turn to face him.
"What's wrong?" Apollo asks, reading his fathers expression.
"We've just flown into a nebula. CIC has done some long-range scans - there's no way around it and it's too risky for an FTL jump, so we're going to have to pass through it."
Laura observes the troubled expression on their faces. "I take it this is bad news?"
Adama nods. "I'm afraid it means you're confined to Galactica until we clear it."
"What?" Laura exclaims.
Adama holds her eye. "The nebula is exerting random electromagnetic discharges which makes it too dangerous to attempt shuttle flight. So, you're staying put, Madame President."
Laura stares at Adama with disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding?"
Laura studies the Commander's stoic expression and then turns to Lee. "I can't stay on Galactica for a week! How am I going to run my office? Where am I going to sleep?"
"We'll make room," Apollo assures.
Laura gives a disgruntled sigh.
"You can use my quarters for the duration of your stay," Adama offers.
Laura shakes her head insistently. "Oh no, I couldn't do that."
"I can bunk with the CAG," Adama states. "Unless you want that honour?" he jokes.
"Actually, we'd prefer the President as a roommate," Lee says jovially. "She doesn't snore and she makes her bed in the morning."
Laura glances at Lee and they exchange a wry smile.
Unsettled by this reference to their vigilante days together, Adama claps his hands together, breaking the moment. "So that's decided," he looks directly at Roslin. "Do you want to get settled in now?"
Laura nods. "I suppose so."
Adama looks at her regretfully. "I'm due on the Bridge, otherwise I'd - "
"I'll accompany the President," Lee intercepts, a huge grin lighting-up his face. The prospect of seeing Laura on a daily basis fills him with joy. The last week without her has been a trawl, something he hadn't been prepared for on their return. He missed her company.
Adama nods. "Alright. I'll see you both later," he declares and turns on his heel, walking out of the hanger deck and heading towards CIC.
Once alone, Laura and Apollo glance at each other.
Laura grins. "Looks like we'll have plenty of time to catch-up now, doesn't it?"
"And all it took was a class J nebula to entrap you," he teases.
"The gods work in mysterious ways!" she jokes.
They start towards the hanger deck doors.
"I believe you were in the middle of telling me a story," Lee reminds her as they enter the corridor.
"So I was," Laura says, tucks her hair behind her ears and resumes her tale.
They arrive at their destination, still immersed in conversation. Lee accompanies Roslin into Adama's quarters and sets about making them a pot of tea while Laura leafs through various volumes on the Commander's bookshelf.
Lee sets the tea tray on the coffee table and they sit on the sofa.
Laura fans her hands out against the leather cushions. "Why does your father have a bed and a sofa when I only have a sofa?" she asks, bewildered.
"You should make an official complaint," Lee declares and hands her a mug of tea.
Laura looks amused. "Oh? And who would I complain to?"
"The CFB."
"The CFB?"
"The Colonial Furniture Bureau."
She smirks. "I'm pretty sure we don't have one of those."
"Well we should! It's not fair that people like yourself have a shortage of furniture and others have it in abundance – it's discrimination!"
She laughs. "I've missed you!"
This stills Lee. He smiles back at her, then says softly. "I miss the little things, like you eating all the blue swirls in a packet of kamets and leaving the red ones, or waking-up to the smell of lavender when you've washed your hair."
"I guess we're used to each other's ways, it's second nature now."
Lee leans back in his seat and takes in the full view of her; red hair shimmering in the light and sleek legs. He's unaccustomed to seeing her in a skirt; during their time in the brig, in hiding and on Kobol, she always wore trousers.
Roslin notices his appreciative gaze and tightens the grip on her mug. "Lee?"
His eyes travel up her body and rest on her face. "Yes?"
She doesn't know where to start.
The phone rings, interrupting the moment.
Quickly getting to his feet, Lee crosses the room and picks-up the receiver. "President Roslin's - oh - yes, hold on a minute," he holds the phone out to Laura. "It's Billy."
Laura stands, crosses the room and takes the phone from him. "Billy? Yes I'm fine… I know... yes - okay," she looks at the Captain, indicating that this call could go on for some time.
Lee nods and swiftly departs his father's quarters, glad to have a moment to clear his head; their conversation had quickly turned into a confessional that he wasn't prepared for.
At the end of his shift, Adama stops by his quarters to collect some personal effects. When he arrives, he finds Roslin and Lee having dinner together.
Laura looks up as he walks in and smiles brightly. "Hi Bill."
"Hello," he returns curtly and glares at his son. Why is it whenever he has the chance to spend time with Laura, his son always manages to ingratiate himself?
"Hi Dad, have you eaten yet?" Lee enquires.
"No," Adama replies gruffly.
Accustomed to his brisk nature, Laura reads nothing into Adama's off-handedness.
"Well, come and join us," Laura invites and gets to her feet to fetch him a plate.
Adama sits next to Lee and leans across the table, whispering. "Are you always here? It's as if you're her shadow."
Lee reels at this.
"It's not healthy, son," Adama condemns. "Having the President be your whole life."
Lee frowns. "That's my decision, isn't it?"
The Commander holds his son's gaze. "Seems you make all your decisions based around her."
"So what?" Lee retorts defensively.
Despite his annoyance, Adama gives into his curiosity. He leans even closer to his son. "How do you stay so attuned to her?"
Lee smiles. "There's no mystery, Dad. Laura and I are cut from the same cloth, that's all."
Adama realises that it's something he'll never have with Laura - they have a different chemistry, the opposites-attract kind and it saddens him, because he wants to understand her, but he always seems to miss the mark. Lee just 'gets' her and Adama resents the hell out of his son for it.
For the first time, Lee sees his father's envy and it takes him back. Every time he starts to forget, Adama does something to remind him of the wasted years of his youth - when he was filled with rage and recrimination.
The two men stare challengingly at each other.
Laura returns with a plate pilled high with food and puts it in front of Adama. She sits down, instantly sensing the shift in atmosphere - the hostility is electric.
They continue dinner and Laura tries to lighten the mood with a humorous anecdote, Lee soon slips into sync with her, but Adama remains unmoved. Then Laura and Lee start talking about an incident that took place on the Kimba Huta that he wasn't witness to, as he was busy trying to hunt them down as terrorists at the time. He struggles to fit-in with them, but soon grows weary of the effort – it's as if they're talking in code.
When the meal is finished, Adama sets about gathering some essentials to take to the CAG with him.
Secretly, Laura is relieved; she notices a change in Lee when Adama is around – a change she doesn't like. Bill knows how to press all Lee's buttons and it pisses her off.
Apollo and Roslin clear the dishes away, she washes and he dries. Adama watches them closely and realises that he was wrong - it wasn't always between him and Laura. They had shared the secret of Earth, but that's where their compatibility ended. From the outset, she and Lee had saved each other repeatedly: it's always been between them.
He fills a box with his belongings, bids them goodnight and heads off.
As soon as Adama leaves, Roslin turns to Lee and asks. "What did the two of you row about?"
"You," Lee replies.
Laura shakes her head with incredulity; she has a habit of driving a wedge between them. "I thought everything was settled between the three of us? After my re-instatement - "
"It was more of a personal disagreement," Lee confesses and hands her the pot of tea he has just made.
They sit down, side-by-side, on the sofa.
"Oh," she mumbles, not sure she wants to delve any further. She pours them both a cup of steaming tea, cradles her mug and leans back against the cushions.
"He thinks we're too close," Lee volunteers.
Laura raises her eyebrows. "I see," she says, meeting Apollo's gaze. "And what do you think?"
Lee smiles. "I think it's no one's business but ours."
Laura returns his smile, then changes the subject.
They sit for a further hour discussing everything that enters their heads, then regretfully part company when Lee has to begin his duty shift.
Laura is awoken by a screeching alarm. She sits up, disorientated, she'd fallen asleep on the sofa, reports and official papers strewn about her. She gets to her feet and rushes to the hatch of Adama's quarters, she tries to open it but there's a weight blocking it.
She manages to force the hatch open a slither and glimpses her security detail passed-out in the corridor and a pink gas filling the passageway. Quickly, Laura shuts the hatch and locks it. She takes a step back, coughing at the gas she inadvertantly inhaled.
A thump comes from the other side of the room and Laura turns to see Lee Adama force his way through an emergency hatch, near the floor, behind Adama's desk.
She rushes over to him and helps him out of the tight compartment.
"Lee, what's happened?"
Apollo takes several deep breaths, his face flushed from exertion. "I'll explain on the way - right now we need to get out of here!"
Laura nods and follows him as he re-enters the emergency tunnel. They crawl single-file through several tunnels that look identical, the high-pitched scream of red-alert echoes behind them. The passageway is dark and claustrophobic, but being with Lee relaxes Laura; she knows she's safe with him.
They continue for several minutes until they reach another hatch. Lee pushes it open and steps out into a deserted corridor. He reaches for Laura's hand and helps her out. He keeps his fingers wrapped around hers as they move hurriedly along the corridor.
"An explanation right about now would be good, Captain Apollo," she ventures, keeping in step with him.
"The nebula has breached Galactica, your deck was hit and when CIC tried to contact your guards, they were unresponsive," he replies. "I volunteered to be the rescue party."
Laura resists the urge to kiss him; all that's missing is the white steed. "Can't the nebula be vented back into space?" she asks.
"Not at the moment. Environmental controls are damaged, which means someone has to repair them manually. A team has already been dispatched, but it could take a while for the repairs to be completed."
"Damaged?" she exclaims, suddenly feeling cold with fear. "How?"
"We don't know the cause as yet," he answers.
"Is sabotage suspected?"
"Could be or it might just be a fault with the circuitry – Galacitica's an old ship."
They are thrown into blackness as the deck lights go out and an eerie silence fills the darkness. They halt.
"That's not good," Laura whispers.
Laura feels Lee's hand tighten around hers.
"Lets go," he says and moves forward into the shadows, feeling his way along the bulkhead with his free hand.
They manoeuvre their way through the corridor until they reach a stairwell. Silently, Lee descends first, Laura close behind.
They reach the next deck, which has emergency lighting. A red-alert light flashes in the distance, filling the corridor with an eerie glow.
As Laura steps off the final rung of the ladder, she hears a low hissing and turns to see the cause. "Lee - "
Lee's eyes follow hers to a pink gas cloud slowly filling the corridor.
"Run!" he yells.
They turn in the opposite direction to the cloud filled with poisonous gasses and start to sprint.
They turn two corners; the gas close on their heels. A hatch looms ahead. Laura runs through it first and when Lee clears the door, she slams it shut and spins the hatch lock.
Safe on their side, they lean against the bulkhead to catch their breath.
"That was close," Lee murmurs, straightening up.
Laura nods, then pushes herself away from the wall. "Why is it, when I'm with you, we're always being chased?"
Lee grins. "Lets just say I like to keep the excitement in our relationship alive!"
Laura laughs. "Well, you're doing a fantastic job!"
"Thanks," he says good-humouredly, then taps her arm. "Come on."
They start down the corridor at a speedy pace and twist and turn their way to CIC.
They appear in CIC tired, sweaty and leaning close to each other.
Adama meets them with a scowl as they enter the bridge.
"Commander," Laura greets.
"Ma'am," he returns civilly.
Lee stands beside Laura as she asks for an update on the situation. He watches her closely; he loves the way she takes command – unassuming, but most definitely in control. He watches his father bow to her, watches Tigh curb his tongue and he grins.
"Environmental controls are being repaired as we speak, it should take a further twenty minutes, then we can contain the nebula and eject it back into space. The circuitry was severed from inside the control panel, so it's definitely sabotage."
"Any suspects?" Laura asks.
Adama shakes his head. "Not as yet, but someone must have seen something."
An hour later, with the gas successfully expelled from Galactica, Lee walks Laura back to her temporary quarters.
They stand alone in the centre of Adama's quarters.
"Thank you for thinking of me," Laura says.
"You're usually my first thought," Lee confesses, his eyes peering into hers, to see if she's ready to hear this. Her large green eyes gaze valiantly back at him, so Lee continues. "You're a habit with me."
Laura smiles enigmatically. "A habit, huh?"
A smile tugs at the corners of Lee's mouth, even though he feels incredibly nervous. "I like putting you first."
"I like that you like putting me first," she murmurs, brushing his arm with her hand.
They study each other for a moment, then Laura takes a measured breath. "Would you like to have dinner sometime?" she asks. "Just the two of us, candles, a bottle of wine - no nebula cloud chasing us?"
"I'd like that very much," he answers.
"It's a date then."
He can't tear his eyes away from her. "I should get back to CIC," he says, but doesn't move, just gazes at her.
Laura takes a step closer to him, their hips almost touching. "Or maybe you could stay?"
"Staying would be good," Lee replies softly, lost in her eyes.
"I should warn you, if you stay, I will have to kiss you."
Lee nods gravely, as if giving this serious consideration. "And, being a gentleman, I'd be obliged to let you."
"It's a dilemma."
"Certainly is," he says and reaches out, brushing his fingertips along her jaw.
She tilts her head and gives him a half-smile that sends the blood rushing from his head. He traces the curve of her lips with his thumb and slips his left arm around her waist. Laura raises her hands and rests them against his chest. She breathes in and he feels her body tremor.
"I wrote you a letter, once," Laura admits. "Explaining my feelings, but I lost my nerve and tore it up."
Lee grins. "I wrote you a love poem once, it was awful – I couldn't get anything to rhyme with 'Roslin' so I threw it away."
She grins. "We're hopeless!"
Lee laughs softly. "At some things," he allows, then leans forward and kisses her.
His mouth covers hers and Laura pulls him closer, her hands gripping the material of his uniform. His body presses tightly to hers and Lee slides his hands down her back and grips her buttocks. Laura rocks her hips against him and smiles as he moans.
Their lips part for a moment.
"Lets take this slowly, we have all night," she whispers huskily.
Lee nods and lets her pull out of his arms. She takes his hand and leads him to the sofa. There's a wicked gleam in her eye and a surge of anticipation rises in Lee's chest. He's waited so long for her; he can't believe their time is finally here.
Laura stands before Adama in his quarters, they're discussing the impending tribunal investigation into the sabotage of Galactica's Environmental systems. Tigh sits in a chair nearby and Lee keeps moving between Adama's desk and Roslin, as if he's not sure how much public support for the President is appropriate to show. He seems torn between gazing adoringly at Laura and maintaining an aloof distance.
Throughout the briefing, Adama's gaze flits between the two. Something's going on… since last week their infatuation with each other seems to have increased. They must be frakking. The Commander turns his head away from them both and pretends to read the progress report in front of him.
The meeting comes to a close and as the President heads for the door, he sees Lee trail after her and whisper something in her ear. Laura smiles graciously and nods, then, as she steps through the doorway, Lee's hand touches her lower back and rests there just a second too long. Adama recoils; it's such an intimate and unconscious move. Now he knows they're frakking.
He glances at Tigh, who is oblivious to the whole thing and has started to grumble about the incongruity of tribunals.
Adama waits for Lee to rejoin them, deciding that he can't be angry at his son for this. Hell, if anyone understood what it was like to fall for Laura Roslin, it was him… so instead of reproof, he'd offer his son understanding.
Laura and Lee. An item. He shakes his head; it'll take time.
Laura sits in her room waiting impatiently for him.
Lee enters at the agreed hour and rushes into her embrace.
She covers him in kisses as he guides her backwards towards the bed and they collapse onto the soft cushions.
"How long can you stay?" she murmurs between kisses.
Lee strips off his tunic and grips Laura's waist, pulling her to him. "Two hours."
Lee undoes her dressing gown and pushes it off her shoulders, Laura kisses him passionately, pushing him onto his back and straddling him. "I'm going to show you exactly what I've wanted to do to you all day."
Lee smirks and gazes up at her. "Is two hours enough?"
She grins, then places feather-light kisses along his throat as she whispers. "Lets find out, shall we?"
~The End~