Here is the final chapter guys, hope you like it
Thanks to Mellow Mel over at LJ for her fantastic beta reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters below – I am only borrowing them – and will not be financially benefitting from the story in anyway. No copyright infringement is intended.
Not Real – Chapter 3
'The Blood Runs at Midnight by Ivana Vasak.' A smile graced Bills' lips as he ran his eyes over the newest addition to his collection. As it turned out Laura was right, it was a pretty good mystery – but the artwork, like the title, did the book no justice at all.
The darkened street and imposing buildings that lined it, the bright red trail of blood running past a black figure that was lurking in the shadows…it was all very cliché - had the book not been a gift from Laura, he certainly wouldn't have read it.
It wasn't that Bill was a literary snob; he just had a tendency to avoid anything that was overly commercialised. He preferred the classics, to which his bookshelves were testament – although reading this book he now realised, probably a little too late, that he might have been missing out on some great reads.
As he pondered how many other 1 cubit mysteries there might be left in the universe for him to read, a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
He stood up from his desk and looked at the clock; it was just gone 23:00 which he thought was a bit late for a social call. Bill removed his glasses, tightened the cord of his robe and with curiosity pushing him forwards, he padded across the room to answer the door.
The metal hatch made a familiar clunk-clink when he spun the wheel to release the lock. As he swung it open, Bill was surprised to see Laura hovering in the entrance - her security team stood resolutely at her back.
"Madame President?"
Bill knew that Laura had planned to stay in guest quarters aboard Galactica tonight due to an early morning meeting in the ward room. Considering how tired she had been lately, he had assumed that she would have retired hours ago - yet here she was - in what appeared to be the same black suit and green shirt that she had worn for their conference earlier that day.
"Admiral I'm sorry to bother you, I realise that it's late…" She quickly took in his attire, "But I see that you're already dressed for bed - I'll come back tomorrow." Laura turned to leave, seemingly embarrassed by her actions.
"No wait," Without thinking, Bill stepped out of the hatch, reached out and clasped her hand lightly in his. Having halted her retreat Laura looked back at him over her shoulder before her eyes darted self-consciously to where their fingers remained entwined.
"Madame President," Bill caught himself and dropped her hand, stepping back over the threshold and straightening his shoulders. "Please, come in…I just finished reading a book."
As she moved into the room, accepting his invitation, she looked down and saw the book clutched to his side. "Ah, The Blood Runs at Midnight…"She smiled. "Did you like it?"
"Actually," Bill scratched the back of his head as he turned to tend to the door "I did…" As he shut the hatch he pretended not to notice the knowing glances exchanged by their security teams. 'Are we that obvious?' he internalised.
Laura stood idly in the centre of the room, feeling oddly anxious as Bill slid the paperback into its new home on the bookshelf.
"Take a seat," He pointed to the couch. "You're a little early for our morning meeting…" He joked as he followed her across the room. "Everything alright?"
She offered a small laugh as she sat on the cool leather surface, tilting her face to look at him standing over her. "I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep."
"You're worried about the results of your test." He observed.
Laura was going to tell him then, the words 'my cancer is back' were on the tip of her tongue, but something stopped her.
Staring into his deep blue eyes she suddenly realised that she would have to get used to seeing him like that – to the expression of concern and pity he now wore on his face when he looked at her.
'Gods, I would do anything for him to look at me like he used to when we were alone in my tent on New Caprica…'
"Yes, a little." She dropped her gaze to her hands and began nervously picking at her nails.
"Did Cottle say when to expect them?"
"Any day now." Laura lied, clasping her hands tightly together, realising that her restless body language was betraying her untruth.
"You want to talk about it?"
Laura returned her eyes to his and inhaled sharply, "Not really Bill," She smiled tightly. "You got anything to drink?"
"Does a bear shit in the woods?" Bill attempted to lighten the conversation and delighted in the throaty laugh that the comment elicited from his guest. He loved to hear her laugh.
"I knew I'd come to the right place." Laura answered and relieved that the subject of her health had been dropped, she set about making herself comfortable.
She unbuttoned her suit jacket and leant forward as she removed it from her shoulders; stripping the top layer of her presidential armour. After draping it casually over the arm of the couch and toeing off her high-heel shoes, she tucked her long legs underneath her and relaxed back into the leather, just as Bill returned with their drinks.
He handed her a tumbler containing a fingers measure of brown liquor which she took from him enthusiastically. "Bottoms up," She quipped before tipping the glass and swallowing the drink in just one gulp.
Even though she had been expecting the burn that slowly trickled into her belly, Laura shivered involuntarily, croaking "It's strong," before offering the glass back to Bill for a refill.
Bill took the glass and retreated to the drinks cart, chuckling to himself as he moved.
"What's so funny?" Laura removed her glasses and placed them on the table, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"If you want to get drunk, I'd better put in a call to Joe's bar."
She frowned back at him as he poured her another drink from the crystal decanter.
"If my memory serves," Bill continued, "you can really hold your drink."
Laura's questioning gaze softened into a smile as she cast her mind back to their drunken night under the New Caprican stars. "As I recall, I near as matched you drink for drink."
"Never!" He retorted as he handed her a second drink and took a seat to her left, his knees angled towards hers.
"I also remember that you passed out before me." She smiled teasingly, "It's all catalogued in my journal…"
"Didn't know you kept a journal before the Cylons arrived…"
"It was important to document colonisation," Laura kept her tone light, determined not to allow his use of the 'c' word to ruin their good humoured banter "And I always thought that Baltars' interpretation would be a somewhat…more embellished version of the truth."
"And the people need to read drunken stories about their Admiral…" He joked.
"Oh no…some entries are definitely for my eyes only…" Laura retorted and then blushed at her admission.
Bill continued the joviality, waggling his eyebrows suggestively, "Anything juicy written in there?"
Laura pursed her lips and hummed cunningly, enjoying their flirtatious behaviour "Maybe…" She muttered into her glass, looking at Bill out of the corner of her eye, before taking another drink.
'Gods, I've missed moments like this,' Bill thought as he eyed Laura curiously, 'Is that why she came here tonight – to discuss 'those other times'?' Her next words answered that very question.
"The other day…" Laura edged further forward and twisted towards him so their knees were almost touching, "You never answered my question."
"What question was that?" Bill draped an arm across the back of the couch, resting his glass tumbler on his thigh.
"If the Cylons hadn't come back," Laura took another sip of her drink, "Do you think you would have stayed on-board Galactica or settled on New Caprica?" She cradled the tumbler with both hands, running her thumb back and forth over the glasses brim as she awaited his response.
"Ah…that question," The smile that her words brought to Bills lips was infectious and Laura mirrored it with one of her own as he continued. "Well, that would have depended."
"On what?" She dipped her head inquisitively.
Bills gaze flitted over her features, moving from the green of her eyes to the pink of her lips and back again. "On you."
"On me?"
Bill shifted his arm from where it rested on the couch and gently pushed a strand of auburn hair behind her shoulder; Laura's breath hitched as his fingers grazed the sensitive skin of her neck. "Yeah."
"Bill I…"She dropped her gaze to her lap, no longer able to endure the intensity of his stare.
"Laura," He said sharply, quickly stifling her protests and she snapped her eyes back to his.
"This cabin of yours…" He softened his tone and his azure eyes bored into hers; any pity or concern that she had seen there just moments ago had now been cloaked with the telling haze of desire. "Any room for me?"
Laura physically felt her heart warm, but her smile was lost; her lips dipped at the edges as she struggled to fight back the tears that had once again welled in her eyes. She so desperately wanted to voice 'the cabin was for us, always,' but the words stuck in her throat - all she could do was to nod her head silently and pray that Bill saw the emotions portrayed by her stare.
"Then the answer is yes," Bill smiled broadly as he scooted closer to her, prying the glass tumbler from her fingers and placing it on the table. "I absolutely would have settled." He moved his face close to hers, lips almost touching and as Laura's lids fluttered closed, Bill rumbled against her wanting mouth, "Hypothetically, of course."
Laura's eyes flew open and she started to laugh but Bill fell forward, capturing her lips with his; swiftly silencing her mirth.
The feel of his lips against hers evoked images of encounters past and Laura parted her lips, welcomingly meeting his tongue with her own as her hands moved to rest on either side of his neck before dropping to cling to the soft fabric of his robe.
The kiss was lusciously slow, both needed to savour the sensation for as long as they possibly could, though eventually the necessity to breathe won out and they begrudgingly broke apart; shamelessly panting as they rested, their foreheads pressed together.
"I've missed that." Laura released her grip on his robe, and brought her palm to gently stroke the slightly stubbled skin of his cheek.
"I've missed you…" Bill tucked her hair behind her ears, moving his mouth to kiss her jaw and then nip her neck with his teeth as his eager fingers found the buttons to her blouse.
Laura dropped her head to one side giving him better access as he trailed wet kisses along her collarbone, her busy hands moving to tug free the cord to his robe, parting the fabric to reveal a single layer of tanks and a stripy pair of boxer shorts.
She shifted onto her knees and as Bill pulled the bottom of her shirt free from the confines of her suit skirt, she dropped her arms to her side allowing him to remove the garment with ease; his eyes were trained on the curve of her breasts and on the peaked nipples protruding through the worn material of her bra.
A jolt of pleasure shot though Laura's body, resulting in a delicious burn in her lower abdomen as Bill ran his thumbs over the erect buds through the threadbare fabric, palming her breasts and taking her mouth with his again – this time with substantially more vigour.
As he started to slip the straps from her shoulders, in a moment of clarity, Laura spoke against his lips "Bill,"
"Laura," He responded and dropped his head to place a kiss to her bare, freckled shoulder.
"No, Bill…" She stilled his movements by placing her hands on his wrists – she had to know.
He looked at her confused, his lips puffy from their kisses.
"Do you really want this?"
His frown deepened, "Of course I do,"
"You said last week that we have certain responsibilities to uphold…"
"Frak responsibilities," Bill attempted to dismiss her concerns as he moved his hands to work the clasp of her bra – but she shrugged him off.
"Bill I'm serious," He stopped his advances, his hands coming to rest on the soft skin of her waist. "If we do this…"
"Laura I want this, I want you…" He held her gaze and acknowledging what she needed to hear, he continued. "I want 'us', you and me…whatever happens…"
She smiled, "Frak our responsibilities, right?" both of them knew that it wasn't that simple, that whatever they had would need to remain a secret – but it felt good to say it.
"Right," He said as he swooped in to take her lips again and this time she didn't protest when his nimble fingers undid the clasp of her bra. Nor did she think about her cancer when he divested her of the rest of her clothes, or object when he swept her into his arms and carried her to his rack.
In fact, for the next thirty minutes or so – Laura Roslin didn't think about much at all.
xXx
Laura awoke several hours later, unsure of her surroundings. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she became aware of Bill's hot breath against the skin of her back and the weight of his strong arm draped across her midriff.
She knew she needed to leave; that she had to return to her guest quarters before the hustle and bustle of early morning. The busyness of Galactica made it impossible for her to make the walk of shame undetected.
'Just a little while longer…' Laura wishfully thought, knowing full well that the ever faithful Tory would appear to rescue her from any unwanted attention - long before the fleet could find out that she had spent the night with the Admiral.
As she snuggled against his chest, Bill tightened his grip on her, placing a small kiss to the soft skin behind her earlobe and a contented smile touched Laura's lips.
'This time I have something to live for,'
It felt right.
As her eyes grew heavy, sleep trying to claim her once more – she made her decision.
Tomorrow she would tell Bill that her cancer had returned and together they would face Doloxan.
End Notes:
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