Chapter 4
Lee Adama locked the hatch to his father's quarters when he entered. Files in hand, he walked over to the dining room table, and placed the documents on it. He looked around, his eyes scanning the room for Admiral Adama's presence. He was nowhere to be seen.
"Dad?" Lee asked calmly, continuing to look for his father.
He sneaked into the bedroom, astonished to find his rack messed up and unmade. He knocked at the bathroom door, believing to have heard a sound from behind the door.
"Dad? Are you there?"
He knocked again.
"I brought the files you asked for."
"Just put them on my desk, son." Bill's mumbled voice answered from the inside.
"Sure." Lee gave back with a smile.
"Dad?"
"Yes?" The reply came after a beat.
"Are you alright?"
Lee waited for an answer. Just before he felt the urge to knock again, the door was opened far enough for the Admiral to sneak through.
"I'm fine, Lee." Bill said calmly, closing the belt of his trousers.
He took his son's arm, and guided him out of the bedroom. Apollo's face mirrored his inner confusion as his father pushed him towards the hatch.
"Dad?" Lee chuckled. "Am I interrupting anything?"
The grin on his face was challenging and cheeky, one of his eyebrows raised.
"Maybe you should come back again later." Bill urged him to drop the issue.
"I do have an appointment with the President in 15 minutes. I figured I could stay and wait for her with you."
Bill closed his eyes. He had forgotten to ask Laura about her scheduled meetings for the day when he had made the quick call to CIC to ask Saul to send Apollo over to bring his reports about his flight.
"Frak." Bill muttered to himself.
"What?" Lee answered, his face displaying plain irritation at the sight of his father's uneasiness. Bill Adama closed his eyes for another second, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He moved towards the couch, inviting his son to sit with him.
"Lee, there's something I wish to talk to you about." His throat was dry and his voice hoarse. "It's about Laura Roslin."
Lee Adama sat next to his father, expecting him to share bad news with him about her state of health.
Bill cleared his throat, "I asked Laura to move in with me."
Apollo's answer was calm and quick. "That makes sense for the time of the Cylon attacks." He nodded. "And it should make things easier for her treatments."
Bill looked at his son, confusion reflected in his eyes, a chuckle born in his throat at the sound of his son's continued thoughts.
"I think it's very nice of you to offer to share your VIP quarters with the President. Not only for the one-on-ones. I know you've come to care for her as family."
Bill's chuckle grew into a hearty laugh when he saw Laura emerging from what was now their bedroom. She was wrapped in his bathrobe, her hair wrapped in a towel, her feet bare on the ground. She looked at him, a bemused sparkle dancing in her eyes when he waved her over.
Lee, astonished about the easiness of her behavior around his father, choked when he witnessed the President of the 12 Colonies leaning in to kiss the Admiral of the fleet. A kiss tender and longing, proof of a bond of affection and love. His eyes grew even wider when he saw how she took Bill's hands in hers, sitting next to him on the couch. His father's arms wrapped around her waist immediately, hugging her close.
"Did you tell him?" Laura whispered into Bill's ear in her low voice mixed with a mild giggle.
Bill, pulling her into another kiss, returned her giggles. "I think he's still processing the information."
Lee Adama blinked a few times, taking in the atmosphere of trust and joy, the easiness of the couple sitting in front of him, oozing satisfaction. His eyes fixed on his father's hand lovingly tugged around Laura Roslin's waist, caressing her absentmindedly.
Lee nodded, "I see."
"Well, good then." Bill answered slowly.
He placed another soft kiss onto his lover's lips, and got up. "I should finish dressing now and head to CIC."
Laura smiled, getting up along with him. "And I should get ready for my meeting with Major Adama, too. Or rumor will have it that the President of the Colonies is too sick to get ready for duty."
Bill returned her smile and sneaked into the bedroom to grab the top of his uniform. He put it on and began to button it up in front of his son.
With the President busy in the bathroom again, Lee rediscovered his voice.
"You look happy."
"I am happy. Thank you." Bill returned with a content smile. "We are happy."
Lee nodded. "I can see that."
He paused for another instant. "When did...? I mean, how...?" He shrugged, obviously unable to find the right words.
"It's only been a couple of days, if that's what you wished to ask. And it began with a kiss." Bill answered slowly, his eyes absent, his mind lost in the memory of his first tender kiss with Laura Roslin.
Lee nodded again, words still lost on him, his lips forming into a broad smile.
Bill patted his shoulder when he left, wishing him a nice day.
When Laura re-entered the living space of her new quarters, she was all President Roslin. Her well-shaped body wrapped in one of her presidential suits, her blouse revealing some maddening cleavage, her hair falling on her shoulders in waves, embellishing her face.
She tried to hide the sparkle of joy in her eyes, but it was no use. Laura smiled gently and sat down at the dinner table, inviting Lee to sit opposite to her. Pointing to the files she asked, "What's this?"
"My father asked me to bring my reports on my recent flight experiences."
"Your visions." Laura said calmly, and he nodded.
"May I?"
She opened the files to have a closer look at his reports.
"I thought you had seen this already." Lee said with a slight touch of irritation in his voice.
The President shook her head. "No. I was only briefed about them."
She was silent for a while, reading his reports thoroughly.
"Kara Thrace didn't return to Galactica. What do believe you have seen?"
Major Adama looked at her, observing how she continued to go through his reports. There was no smile on her lips, no chuckle caught in her throat. She was fully concentrated, her eyes sparkling through her glasses, fixed on the words before them.
"I think that I saw Kara, and that she had a message for me." His words were steady and calm, his voice filled with warmth… and slight longing.
"Do you believe that you saw Kara Thrace or do you believe to have received a message from the Gods?"
Laura looked up from his reports, her green eyes looking right into him.
"The Gods?" Lee asked carefully.
Laura, ignoring the subtle tone of disbelief in his voice, continued to look deep into his eyes. "You believe that Kara sent you a message."
Lee nodded.
"So you think that she's dead."
He shook his head. "No, I can't describe or explain it, but I believe that she is still alive."
Laura nodded. "I see."
Lee studied her face for a while before he raised his voice again to speak to her. "There's something you are not telling me."
And she smiled at him. It was one of her superior smiles. One of those that put her opposition back into 2nd place, making clear that she was the President.
"What is it about Kara that I don't know?" Lee's voice became more insistent.
Laura studied him for a beat of silence. When she spoke to him again, her voice was crisp and clear.
"I rely on your discretion, Captain Apollo."
Lee smiled at the way she used his former title against him again. And he detected the same vulnerability in her eyes now as in court, when he had cross-examined her on the witness stand.
"Of course." Lee mumbled.
"Do you believe in the prophecies? In the existence of the Final Five and their function to guide us?"
She didn't wait for him to answer, seeing the doubt in his features already. "I have seen them, Lee. I know who they are, and I believe that they will help us to find Earth."
Major Adama looked at her for endless minutes, trying to put her words in perspective. Could she possibly mean Kara to be one of the Final Five? Was she accusing her of being a Cylon, of fogging his mind? Or was she assuming that her visions were somehow related to his – that they were part of a greater whole? That they would be the ears to the voices of the Gods. That they would lead the survivors of humanity to the 13th Colony?
Lee smiled.
In a way, it wasn't too much of a problem for him to see Laura Roslin as a Prophet. That was a thought he'd grown accustomed to during her first term. Him however – picturing himself as a part of a universal prophecy didn't really appeal to him. And he closed his eyes at the memory of the President feeling uneasy about being worshipped and referred to as a religious leader.
He nodded, and he began to understand.
Apollo looked at her, seeing a distressed expression on her face, her hands cupping the left side of her head. He wanted to get up to ask her what was wrong. He didn't have to. Within the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by light, a pounding feeling rising in his head. He tried to adjust his eyes to the brightness, holding his hand before his head to shield his eyes from the blinding light. He found himself in an opera house, four veiled people standing on a balcony, looking down on him. Laura was at the other end of the opera house, standing on another balcony. Her mouth moving, producing sounds and words he was unable to grasp. Lee turned around when he felt a presence right next to him. Although surrounded by warm light, he still recognized the familiar features of Kara Thrace. She smiled at him, offering him her hand.
Laura looked down on Lee. She tried to call his name, but her voice was lost on her, only existing in her head. She observed how Lee took Kara's hand and disappeared as suddenly as he had entered the scenery of her vision.
She looked over to the other balcony, the Final Five opening the circle they had formed around Hera. They sent the girl over to her, holding her mother's hand. When Athena stood in front of her, she smiled, and Hera stretched her arms up to be held. Laura reached down to wrap her in her arms, the sound of her childish chuckles music to her ears.
When Laura's mind jumped back to the reality and the surroundings of Galactica, Lee stared at her. He got up, words unnecessary between them. He moved towards the hatch, his eyes never leaving hers until he closed the hatch behind him from the outside.
Laura sat still for a while before she got up to head to sickbay. When she arrived, Doctor Cottle was waiting for her already. A lit cigarette hanging loosely in the corner of his mouth, it looked as if he carried the tiniest of a satisfied smile on his lips. Sharon Agathon emerged from behind the curtain he was standing in front of, giving her a cool smile. She moved to the side to reveal her daughter to the eyes of the President. Hera was tugged on one of the med beds, tugged under sheets and attached to monitors and a drip.
Laura looked at Lt. Agathon, her eyes giving away the concern she felt for the little girl.
"Is she alright?" Laura asked carefully.
Athena nodded, inviting her to step to her daughter's bedside.
"She will be fine. Thank you."
Dr. Cottle showed the President over to the free bed next to Hera Agathon's, indicating to her to sit down. His cigarette still resting between his lips, the CMO muttered morosely.
"Lt. Agathon has good news for you, Madame President."
Laura tilted her head to the side, looking at Sharon's friendly face.
"Madame President." She started hesitantly. "I spoke to Helo about this, and we came to the conclusion that we shouldn't deny you another blood transfusion to raise your stakes for a recovery."
Laura was irritated for a moment, and speechless. She looked at Cottle for a beat, her eyes meeting Athena's shortly after, unwilling to believe the words she believed to just have heard. A why was evident in her eyes, but Laura was unable to mouth it.
"Helo wasn't too fond of this idea, but I convinced him to give in after all."
Laura bowed her head.
"What do you expect me to do for you in return?" Her voice was calm, with a hint of mild skepticism.
Sharon smiled and shook her head.
"Helo wanted to attach this gesture to a condition or a bargain. But I disapproved."
"The vision." Laura interrupted her. And Athena nodded.
Laura paused for a moment. Then she continued thoughtfully, "You don't have to do this."
"You didn't ask. You didn't order us to help you." Sharon looked into her eyes. "It's the right thing to do."
Laura Roslin turned her head, looking at Hera. "Is she in pain?"
Jack Cottle shook his head. "She's not. You'll both be fine."
He moved closer to her, urging Laura to lie down.
"And now, young lady, we'll start with your Diloxin treatment."
He raised his hand, cutting her off.
"Uh. Before you protest, and I know that you will." His tone of voice was more ironic than annoyed. "It's important to continue with the Diloxin until further notice. You were cured by the last blood transfusion, but only temporarily. We hope to grab your cancer by its balls this time. Shooting from two angles, we should be able to airlock the roots of your disease."
Cottle prepared her for the injections, treating her as gently as he could.
"And if you'll cooperate for a change, things should work out perfectly fine, young lady."
Laura gave him a playful grin. "Yes, Sir."
The relief was visible in her giggly voice, and destroyed the aura of presidential protest she had tried to put on.
"By the way." Jack continued. "You seem to have found the right dosage of Chamalla after all. You are much more relaxed and bearable than the last time. I take it, the Admiral took my advice, took control and is taking good care of you now."
Laura blinked her eyes, suppressing a devilishly sexy smile, her mind dancing back to her and Bill's shower that morning, and giggled.
"Yes, indeed he does."
The smirk Cottle gave her suggested he knew just what she was thinking. The glint in his eye told her he approved.
