Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program Battlestar Galactica are the creations of SciFi, RDM, DE and many others and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended by the author. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted by the author.
Jack and Maggie
by Silwyna
First Cylon War, Refugee Camp, Caprica
"Are you a doctor?"
Irritated Jack turned around to the woman who had asked the question. "I'm wearing a white scrub, what do you think?"
"Smartass. Come on, I need you." Without waiting for him to reply, the woman turned around to leave.
"I have patients here to look after. You will have to wait." He told her, annoyed by her attitude.
Sighing she turned around to him. "Look, there is a medical emergency. You either come now and help or you can point me to the next priest because my friend won't live much longer." She glared at him angrily.
Jack wanted to give her a smug reply – there was more than just one emergency here – but when he looked at her he saw something in her eyes and the words stuck in his mouth. Before he knew what he was doing, he had grabbed his medical bag and followed her. "This better be a real emergency." He muttered to save at least some of his pride. He had no idea what had made him go with her.
As it turned out, it was a real emergency. The man she brought him to was close to death. Jack had arrived right on time. He was sure that had he arrived a few minutes later the man would have died. He was bleeding from several deep wounds and had already lost a lot of blood.
"What happened?" Jack asked while he examined his new patient and tended his wounds as well as he could.
"What do you think?" The woman snapped at him. Then she took a deep breath. "We ran into a Cylon patrol. They immediately started firing. Most of us died. The ones that survived picked up the injured and came here."
"Frakking Cylons." Jack mumbled. Ever since this war had started he had seen nothing but pain and death. This wasn't what he had imagined when he had decided to become a doctor. His father had always warned him that the Cylons would mean trouble. He hadn't believed him. He had thought that they were a great invention, possible the greatest one so far in the history of humanity. He had never been more wrong. And now they were in the middle of this frakking war and with his 26 years he already counted as one of the most experienced doctors in the fleet.
"Will he survive?"
Her quiet voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "How should I know? I'm not a psychic." When he looked at her, he regretted his harsh words. She looked truly worried. "We will know more in a few hours. There's nothing else I can do here. I have to get back to my other patients. I will look after him in a few hours. If his condition changes, call me."
"Thank you." She smiled at him for the first time.
He looked at her thoughtfully. There was something about her that made her somehow different than other women. He couldn't say what that was ... but he knew he wanted to know more about her. "What's your name?" The question had left his mouth before he could even think about it.
She hesitated a moment before she replied. "Maggie." She swallowed. "Maggie Dawson."
"Okay. Ask for Jack Cottle when you need me, Maggie Dawson."
XXXXXXX
Jack saw Maggie again several times during the next few days. He caught himself looking more after her friend than was necessary, always hoping to see her again. Of course he would never admit that, not even to himself. She was a stubborn, irritating woman and most of the time they were arguing more than really talking. But he still felt inexplicably drawn to her.
Four days and several quarrels after he had met Maggie for the first time, he found himself having his first real conversation with her. They were sitting around a fire with a few other people. Jack wasn't really in the mood to talk. It had been a hard day. Several new refugees had arrived at the camp today, many of them seriously wounded. He tried not to get too involved with them. In the beginning he had listened to their stories, had tried to help the people dealing with their traumas. But there were just too many ... now he simply took care of their wounds and went on to the next patient. It was easier this way.
He was just about to call it a night and go to his tent, when Maggie's voice stopped him.
"Where are you from?"
Surprised at her question he looked at her. It was the first time she had asked him something that wasn't medical related. "Caprica City. And you?"
"Bayton."
"Never heard of it." Jack admitted.
"And you never will anymore. It's completely destroyed." She didn't have to say anything else. He could imagine the rest.
"I'm sorry."
"We were lucky we got out in time. Frakking toasters. If I ever get my hands on the bastard who invented them ..." Her voice trailed off and she stared angrily at the fire.
"Get in line." Jack replied cynically. "Did you grow up in Bayton?"
"Yes, lived there my whole life. I knew almost all the inhabitants," she said quietly. A sad expression flashed through her eyes, but she recovered her composure quickly. "And what about you? You're a real city boy?"
"Me? Gods, no." Jack grinned. "I'm from Carnsville, that's about 20 miles outside of Caprica City. A small town, mostly farmers. My parents have a house there. My father built it with his own hands." A small laugh escaped his lips. "The Cylons better not get near there. My parents would teach them never to come near a human again."
She had to laugh at his words. "Are they farmers too?"
"Yes." He wanted to ask after her parents, but he wasn't sure if they had been lucky enough to get out of Bayton in time and he didn't want to raise any painful memories for her.
"And how come you decided to join the fleet?" Maggie wanted to know.
"I always wanted to study medicine. My parents aren't rich enough to pay the tuition. Joining the fleet was the only way I could become a doctor."
"You're pretty young to be a doctor, aren't you?"
"When the war started, they pushed our graduations. Everyone who knew something about medicine suddenly turned into a doctor."
"Well, you turned into a pretty good one."
Jack only shrugged in response. "What about you?"
"I wanted to become a teacher. I was on the university for a few years, but then my Mom got sick and I came back to Bayton to take care of her. I wanted to finish the studies when she was better again, but ... well, then the war started."
They fell silent for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Maggie stood up.
"Thanks, uhm ... this was good. Just talking ..." She looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite read. "Good night."
"Good night." He watched her disappearing in the night and wondered what had made her start a normal conversation with him. She usually never had any nice words for him. But she was right ... just talking had felt very good.
XXXXXXX
When Jack had started to work in one of the refugee camps on Caprica, he had never thought he would find something good in all this chaos. He had hated it from the beginning. There wasn't really much he could do here. They didn't have enough medication for all the patients and there were more and more coming each day.
But when he met Maggie Dawson he found something again to look forward to during the day. After their first real talk they met every night. He enjoyed their conversations. They usually never talked much, but the few words they exchanged meant a lot to him. Those moments with her every night made it easier dealing with the horrors of the day.
The day he finally realized that Maggie was more than just another refugee for him was the day the Cylons attacked the camp. He was watching her from afar when the alarms went off.
"Frak!" He cursed under his breath. He punched the nearest wall with his fist, then he started shouting orders. "Get the patients on the ships NOW! You ..." He grabbed a man who was running past him in panic." ... get over there and help Mannings. Steve, leave that, forget the equipment, we only get out the patients!"
Despite their best efforts, they didn't manage to get everyone out in time. The Cylons came too fast and they attacked without mercy. There was no way to evacuate everyone, but Jack wasn't willing to leave anyone behind. As soon as he brought one of the patients on to the waiting rescue ships, he jumped out again, ignoring the shouts of the Officer in Charge to come back. There were still over thirty patients in the camp and he was determined to get as many of them out of there as possible. While he was carrying a young, severely injured viper pilot who had crashed near the camp a few days ago, his thoughts went to Maggie. He hoped she was safely on one of the ships already on their way to the orbit, away from here.
Pushing her out of his thoughts and concentrating on the task at hand, he kept dragging the man to the waiting raptor. He could see Sergeant Harris shouting at him, but with all the shooting and explosions around him, he couldn't understand what he was saying. Suddenly he felt a stabbing pain in his leg and stumbled to the floor. He saw several bullets hitting the floor around him and another pain flooded through his arm. He looked up and saw Harris standing at the entrance of the ship. He tried to get up, but his legs gave in before he was able to fully stand upright and he sagged down on the ground again. The last thing he saw was Harris running in his direction before his world turned black.
XXXXXXX
Slowly Jack came back to consciousness. He felt strange ... as if he was floating. The only thing that seemed to keep him on the ground was someone holding his hand. He tried to hold onto this.
"Jack?"
He heard someone calling his name ... the voice sounded familiar, but seemed to be miles away.
"Jack, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes? Just for a second?"
The voice sounded so pleading, he couldn't ignore her. He forced his eyes to open and saw a blurry vision of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen sitting next to him. "Maggie?" He slurred in a hoarse voice. His throat felt sore. He tried to think of an explanation for that. He couldn't think of any. "What ..."
"Shh, don't talk." Maggie put her finger on his lips. "You had a tube in your throat for several days. You nearly died."
Jack tried to comprehend what she was saying ... but it didn't make any sense. Why would he have a tube in his throat? And dying?
Maggie saw the confusion in his eyes. "You stupid idiot had to run back there and get yourself shot. Moron."
Slowly the memory came back to Jack. He remembered shots, explosions ... "The pilot..."
"He's alive. Sergeant Harris managed to bring both of you back to the ship the last second." Maggie swallowed and squeezed Jack's hand tightly. "You're a hero, Jack. You saved so many people. If it hadn't been for you, we would have lost many more. You did good."
He eyes fell close and when he didn't open them again, Maggie was convinced he had fallen back asleep when she suddenly felt a weak squeeze from his hand.
"Thanks." He mumbled.
"What for?"
"For ... being here."
"No problem." She swallowed and grasped his hand a bit tighter. She thanked the gods that they had spared him. Humanity needed people like him in times like these.
XXXXXXX
After two weeks Jack was released from hospital and he started working again. He was still limping and couldn't use his arm properly, but he was helping with the little things. It was better than just sitting around. He saw Maggie at least once a day. She always seemed to find a reason to come to the hospital and would coincidentally run into him. She always seemed to be there at the right time to get him to take a break. They were back to arguing more than actual talking but she took good care of him and he was grateful for it.
Jack didn't remember much from the day the Cylons had attacked the refugee camp, only bits and pieces. But there was one thing he remembered clearly – his realization what he felt for Maggie. And when he heard there would be a Colonial Day Dance the next month in the new refugee camp they were in he knew what he had to do.
"Maggie, hi."
"Hi. I brought you lunch." She smiled at him.
"Thanks." He replied with a warm smile. He took a deep breath and collected all his courage.
"Maggie, I wanted ..."
"Jack, I have ..."
They both had to laugh.
"You start." Maggie said quickly.
"No, ladies first." Jack insisted.
"Don't be ridiculous. What did you want to say?"
Jack took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I wanted to invite you to the Colonial Day Dance next month."
"Oh ..."
"Oh?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I can't. I'm sorry."
"Oh ..."
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just ... I have this rule and ... I never go out with people I work with."
He looked at her stunned. "We don't work together."
"Yes, we do."
"No, we don't."
"That's what I wanted to tell you ... I'm working at the hospital from tomorrow on. We'll be colleagues." She told him with a half smile.
"Oh ... "He shook his head. "That's ridiculous."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is. We've known each other for some time now and just because you're starting to work at the hospital tomorrow means we can't do anything together anymore?" He asked angrily.
"I didn't say that ... We just can't go to the dance together."
"Since when do you know about the job?"
"I applied for it last week." She replied quietly.
"And if I had asked you the week before that? Would you have said yes?"
She hesitated a moment. "I ... I don't know."
"That's a lie."
"Jack ..."
"Just forget it." Without looking at her again, Jack turned away from her and left. He cursed himself. Why had he waited so long? And why did she have to have this stupid rule?
Jack was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. He was angry at himself and angry at her. But at the end of the day he made up his mind ... He was Alvin Cottle's son and a Cottle never gave up so easily.
XXXXXXX
The next day Jack greeted Maggie with a wide smile.
"Good Morning."
"Good Morning." She looked at him surprised. After their talk yesterday she had expected him to be still mad at her.
"You're ready for the new job?"
"Yes, I'm really looking forward to do something useful." She replied smiling.
"I know the feeling. So ... did you think about my question?"
Maggie looked at him confused.
"About the Colonial Day Dance." Jack explained grinning.
"Jack, I already told you I can't go with you."
"I know but I decided not to accept your reasoning. So, are you going with me?"
"No." She glared at him determinedly and this time it was she who walked away.
The next day Jack asked her again. And again her answer was the same. But he didn't give up. He asked her again and again every day until the Dance was only a week away. Each time she turned him down.
XXXXXXX
Deep in thought Jack watched Maggie talking to one of the patients.
"How much longer are you going to keep doing this?"
"Hmm?" Startled Jack turned around and saw Dave Harris standing in front of him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh come on, Cottle, for three weeks you've been asking this girl to go out with you and she's turning you down every time. Why are you doing this to yourself?"
"Because I love her." Jack was surprised at his own words, but as soon as they had left his mouth, he knew it was true. He was in love with Maggie Dawson.
Harris let out a sarcastic laugh. "You're a fool."
Jack only shrugged.
Shaking his head, Harris offered him one of his cigarettes. "Want one? You could need it."
"You know I don't smoke." Jack replied.
"Yeah, yeah ... smoking is a health risk, I heard it all before." Harris smirked and took a long drag from his cigarette. "So, how long?"
"Just one more time." Jack said in a firm voice. "And this time she's going to say yes."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Jack took a deep breath and with quick steps he walked towards Maggie. "Maggie."
With a sigh Maggie turned to him. She knew what would come now.
Stopping directly in front of her, Jack looked at her sternly. "Are you going to the dance with me now or not?" He asked in a harsh tone.
Maggie was completely taken by surprise by his gruff tone and before she knew what she was saying she had accepted his invitation.
For a moment Jack just stared at her. Then a wide grin spread on his face. "Good. I pick you up at seven."
TBC
A.N.: Thanks to Laurie for beta reading. You're the best!!!