Spoilers for Season two – Epiphanies and Season Three – A day in the life. Direct quotes from both episodes.

Thanks Ruth for the beta.

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended.

This Story was inspired by a challenge made on AdamaRoslin group, to use these three quotes from the film Shadowlands.

"Jack, don't you sometimes just bust to share the joke? Here's your friends thinking we're unmarried and up to all sorts of wickedness, when all along we're married and up to nothing at all."

"Will you marry this foolish, frightened old man... who needs you more than he can bear to say... who loves you, even though he hardly knows how?"

"How could Joy be my wife?... I'd have to love her, wouldn't I? I'd have to care more for her than anyone else in this world... I'd have to be suffering the torments of the damned, the prospect of losing her."

It became a bit of a monster so is split into four parts. Hope you enjoy!

PART ONE

This starts in season two sometime after Resurrection Ship 1 and 2.

Bill Adama sat, holding Laura's hand, she was too weak now to stand and she lay in her cot, cocooned in blankets, looking pale and thin.

Today's topic of conversation between them seem to be "what if's" and "wished you'd done it" type, reminiscences.

Laura to Bill's surprise was waxing lyrical about how she would have loved to go hill walking. Frankly Bill couldn't quite see it, Laura had never been one to be untidy or scruffy in all the time they had known each other. He just couldn't picture Laura Roslin as the flask and anorak type. Then again, ill as she was, she had left younger men and women in her wake as she climbed the cold and wet terrain of Kobol. Laura obviously wished she had given it try, as, at the moment, she was going into great detail of how she always wanted to go up the mountain range just out Caprica City.

"Have you ever been?" She asked out of the blue, training her astute eyes upon him. Bill suddenly had a vision of being back at school and the teacher calling out, "You boy at the back are you paying attention?" well this time he was and answered swiftly hoping she didn't have a piece of chalk in her hand ready to throw it at him if he said the wrong answer.

"No," shaking his head at her.

"They said," She stated wistfully, "if you stood on the north face of the summit you could see the whole of Caprica City and if you looked to the south you could see the coastline in the distance and the sun reflecting off the sea, gave a beautiful light show of colours," she smiled as the vision filled her mind.

Her eyes turned to Bill again, watching as he sat a little forward in his seat so he could hear what she was saying clearly, smiling slightly at her; he had been a good companion these last few weeks, the last few weeks of her life she amended in fear.

"How about you?" She said, pulling her mind away from that train of thought.

This time Adama's concentration had been caught wandering, he had been taking in every feature of Laura's face and he could only manage a puzzled, "Mmn," at her question.

Laura raised her eyes and clarified, "Where do you wish you had been but never got the chance?"

"Oh, uhm," he said giving it some thought. "I guess I would have liked to spend more time on the other Colonies. I had so little time on land and most of it was spent in the same area. It seems so short sighted now!"

Laura nodded her head in understanding; if only they had known what they would all lose, perhaps they would have treated it with the respect it deserved.

There was a brief silence as the two contemplated all that had been lost.

Bill realising the morose topic wasn't good, tried to lighten the mood once more, unhappy with where the conversation had gone, he asked, "What else would you have liked to have done?"

"Oh," she smiled cheekily, "Just the usual, learnt to fly, play a musical instrument, got married."

Bill laughed and revealed smugly, "I did all of those!"

Laura laughed and asked in wonder, "You can play a musical instrument?"

"Well," Bill hesitated embarrassingly, "I used to be able to play a little piano, my father wanted me to learn as a child, I don't think it would stand up to much now."

She smiled, "You can do it all then."

"Yep, I can fly; well Vipers and Battlestars anyway, why didn't you, anyway?"

"What? Fly vipers?" She asked cheekily.

"No," he smiled, "Get married, I can't imagine you were short of offers?

She snorted, "You'd be surprised, men don't tend to go for the strong willed political types."

"I do," he smiled.

She laughed and said without thinking, "You're so desperate that you're sitting here with a dying woman."

Her humour went down cold as Bill looked stricken and looked down at the floor. Rule number one, Laura thought don't upset the visitors by mentioning you're dying too often. She reached across and touched his face, until he raised his head, "Sorry," she said.

He smiled sadly at her.

"Truthfully, I never met the right man. I guess my career was too important to me to take the time to look, you know in a male orientated political world, I felt I had to prove myself, always wanting to show that I was as good at my job as they were. Somewhere along the line my life slipped away."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I did it, I got married and then I frakked it up well and truly."

Laura grinned and questioned, "Was it a big wedding?"

"Mmn, mine?" he asked and continued as she nodded her head, "Yes it was, Carol Ann's parents were big in something or other, I don't remember now but they were always rather disappointed that their daughter brought home a pilot," he grinned at her, "not at all what they had in mind as marriage material."

She chuckled, "Look at that viper pilot now, only head of the military and the President's right hand man," she said and squeezed the hand that he was still holding.

"You know it's never too late," he said looking at her seriously.

She looked puzzled at him.

"To get married," he said simply.

She laughed out loud, "Who would marry me? I'm not exactly a good bet."

"I would," he said without a hint of humour.

"Bill, no," she shrieked, "I have no intention of getting married, just to say I did, before I die."

"Laura, I care for you deeply, I would find it an honour if you would marry me, I know that you aren't in love with me," he said looking down at the floor and quickly continuing before Laura could say anything, "But you are my best friend and my dearest companion and I would gladly spend whatever time you have left, as your husband."

Laura's eyes filled with tears at his words and shook her head.

"Laura, look at me," Adama said, waiting till she was looking directly at him, "Please, all I want is to make you happy."

"Bill," Laura was for once in her life lost for words. She shook her head, a hundred things running through her head and one thing burning through her soul. 'I don't need to be married to be happy and feel complete."

"I know that but..." Bill seemed to be struggling with his words and as she looked directly at him, she was shocked to see tears steaming down his face.

Laura ran her fingers down the side of his face wiping the tears that had trailed down. Their time had run out and although she could never regret the choices they had made, once again and for the final time she had put them ahead of her own happiness.

She came to a sudden decision and said quickly before she changed her mind, "Yes."

Bill looked puzzled for a second before he realised what she was saying, "Yes!" and grinned in delight. He couldn't have said why he had made the offer, he knew it wasn't a hasty decision, even if the idea had only just entered his head and now she had said yes, he was even more that it was the right thing to do.

Laura couldn't have told you why she had agreed to this either, but just looking at Bill Adama's face and how deeply he had felt, literally made her want to spend whatever time she had left in the company of this man, after all marriage was surely more about the friendship you shared than the physical side of things. Maybe if there had been more time their relationship would have moved in that direction, but that would have pushed up more issues, as things stood within the fleet that wouldn't have helped the situation.

This is a little different for me so please let me know what you think.