Bill gently untangled Laura's fingers from his dogtags and eased out of bed, pausing only to kiss her lightly as she murmured sleepily in protest. "Go back to sleep, honey."

"Going?" Eyes still closed, she frowned slightly as he tucked the covers around her.

"Downstairs." Brushing her hair off her face, he winced at the sight of her bruised hand, resting on the pillow next to her head. "Back to sleep. No school this morning."

"Kay." With another soft sigh, she relaxed as he watched over her, bending to kiss her forehead once more before turning toward the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Bill was in the kitchen, measuring out coffee as he stared out the window over the garden. While the worst of the storm had passed over in the early hours of the morning, it was still raining steadily, and didn't look like it was going to be stopping any time soon. While the coffee brewed, he crossed to the phone and made two quick phone calls, one to the base to let them know he wasn't going to be in that day, and another call to Laura's school, leaving the message there that they might stop in later in the day to drop off some paperwork he knew she'd graded before they'd left the night before. Hanging up the handset, he'd just poured a cup of coffee when the kitchen door slowly opened. "Morning."

"Yeah." Saul ran his hand over his head. "Is that…"

"Coffee." With a grin, Bill poured another cup and nodded toward the cooler. "Cream in there, sweetener on the counter."

"Not needed." Closing his eyes, Saul inhaled deeply before taking a quick swallow. "Gods…"

"Missed it?" Chuckling, Bill nodded to the table. "Sit."

"How's Laura this morning?" Instinctively, he glanced upstairs. "Again…wish I'd been a couple of seconds faster."

"You were here." Seating himself, Bill shook his head. "She's sleeping, woke up when the worst of the storm hit, her hand was hurting as well, so she took another painkiller Cottle had left for me a few weeks ago. Twisted my ankle. He was one of the calls last night, and told her she could use the same pills, but half the dosage."

"Storm woke her?" Saul nodded again with a sigh. "Course it would."

Bill's eyes narrowed. "It would? She said it was just the thunder. She loves the rain, but isn't a fan of storms."

Saul took a swallow of coffee and met Bill's eyes levelly. "New Caprica. Raiders." When there was no reaction except a raised eyebrow, he continued. "Occasionally they used to randomly sweep over the tents, it would sound like they were about to plow into the community. One day, they decided to strafe the streets when they didn't clear as quickly as they'd like. Sort of a game of cat and mouse. Laura was trapped in the school tent with the children, by herself. Tory was in detention, and the baby was sick, so Maya wasn't there. We found them huddled under her desk, another table pulled alongside. Her, and about twenty five kids. They'd been trapped there, listening to the raiders and the weapons, and the screams. She'd kept the kids under the table when one of the mothers had crashed in, shot…died in front of them all before she could get to her. Cottle kept her overnight in the clinic, some of the kids had lost parents that day, and he had her help him with them. Told me later, he was there keeping an eye on her, that when they'd come upon them, Laura got all the kids out, but…there was something in her eyes. Next day, they came for her and she ended up in detention again, so he didn't get to talk to her about it."

"I see." Bill took a swallow of his coffee and stared out the window. "She won't talk much about New Caprica. We've talked about everything else, and she's told me a lot of what happened there, but, not as much as I'd have liked. Before…we were here, we'd talk about it, but there was so much else happening, with, well, everything. Here, we've discussed it now and again. There's things I've wanted to know, but she's still not able to tell me, or has blocked it out."

"Typical Roslin…I mean, Adama." Saul grinned and shook his head. "She told you the important stuff, I'm sure. She wouldn't keep it from you."

Bill nodded slowly. "And then there was something you said last night. In passing."

With a wince, Saul sighed. "I'm still adjusting."

"Picking her up?" Bill lifted an eyebrow.

"That." Saul took another swallow of coffee.

"That." Bill stated. "You were at odds most of the time, and I know how…selective Laura is about people getting close to her."

"We…we were stuck in the clinic tent one night, We'd both just been released and Cottle was keeping us overnight. I had no depth perception, she wasn't allowed to pick anything up, could barely stand up herself, back muscles pulled so bad." He chuckled. "We talked. Just talked, I'd been a few cells down from her, you know your sweet delicate wife can swear like…well, she'd hold her own with Starbuck."

"Yeah. I figured that out." Bill nodded. "Go on."

"We talked. Figured out you'd told both of us to watch out for the other." Saul shook his head. "Both of us had frakked that part of it up, but…let's just say in talking with her that night, I understood more. Hell of a woman. Even Ellen started to bond with her, and Laura took it. And, you know how much that takes. Ellen never got close to any other female. Anyway, after that night, we started…working together. She trusted me, I trusted her. Still fought like cats and dogs, but, on a different level. She'd get up in my face and challenge me, never had that happen…well, except with Starbuck. But Roslin? She was sober, and she was sometimes right. Other times I was, and she took it as well as could be expected. But, whenever something happened, when we'd come out of detention in daylight, she'd walk out on her own, until she was out of sight of the general masses, and with me or Cottle. Then, she'd let one of us help her."

"Stubborn woman." Bill stood and crossed to the coffee pot, refilling their glasses before starting a fresh pot.

"Hell of a woman." Saul chuckled. "You know she had it out with me as well, after…well, after I found out what I was? Most of the crew wouldn't even talk to me, or be near me, and she yanks me into a storage room and starts off on one of her tirades about how you and I had to get through it. Whether it involved a boxing ring, an office, or a bar. Just the two of us getting through it."

"That's two of us. I got a variation of the same lecture." Bill shook his head. "I'd ask you how everyone was, what happened after I…but, Laura will want to hear it as well."

"Still wrapping my head around being here." Saul grimaced. "Not exactly sure what happened. Or, how people will take it. How I'll take being around people."

"You're welcome to stay here, long as you need." Bill gestured. "We have the room, and you're more than welcome."

"May take you up on that for a few days at least, till I figure out what's going on. You said Natalie and Boomer are around?"

"Yeah, they're actually why I made it back as fast as I did last night. Came across them leading the horses back, and figured out something was wrong." Bill glanced out the window. "Told them I'd let them know what was going on today."

"Good of you to take them in." Saul looked over at the door, braced shut. "So, Adar?"

"You know she was involved with him before…" Bill's voice trailed off.

"Yeah." At Bill's expression, Saul shrugged. "Hey, I was your XO, I ran security checks, heard things. And, he had a reputation, and she had, has amazing legs. Once I met her, couldn't figure it out, she was, uh…well, not exactly what I'd figure him to go for. But, I also know she ended it before she headed to Galactica, and was devoted to her Presidency, teaching, and then you. Didn't figure I needed to bring it up."

"I see." Bill shook his head. "Anyway, since she's been here, he's approached her several times, never when I'm around, he's too cowardly for that, but, she's cut him off each time, I believe she actually laid him out on his back once, a move she mentioned you might have taught her?"

"Possible." He grinned.

"He's been watching Laura, and her father and I went to see the security force here, actually, they came to see us after a bit of an incident involving Adar stepping into a fire ant colony that appeared outside her condo, where we were living until the house was built." He chuckled. "Sagittarion fire ants. Not pretty."

"That has Starbuck written all over it." Saul shook his head. "And, if I heard correctly, Zak?"

"With, believe it or not, Billy's help." Bill grinned. "So, the officials were aware of it, and up until last night, he's been too cowardly to actually do anything to her. He'll be banished, won't be around any more. It apparently can be done, not sure of the details, but can happen. He just believed he and Laura would pick up where he thought they'd left off, since his wife had moved on as well."

"Too bad." Saul took a swallow of coffee.

"Insult to injury, his former wife and Laura were good friends before she started working for him, a relationship they dampened during her tenure on his staff, but have revived since they've been here." He winced. "You've no idea how glad I am to have another man around here. We're still trying to catch up to the women."

"With good cause." Unnoticed, the kitchen door had opened, and Laura entered, Bill's robe wrapped around her. "Good morning gentlemen."

"Hey there." Bill stood and moved to greet her, kissing her lightly. "Morning. Coffee?"

"Please." Continuing to the table, she sank into a chair and smiled. "Hello again."

"Good morning." Saul grinned. "Still appropriating his robe, Madam President?"

"Mine now." Laura laughed. "You settled in well downstairs?"

"Yeah, did some laundry last night too." He nodded. "Thanks for the hospitality."

"You're family." She shrugged. "With impeccable timing."

"For once." Saul looked at her hand. "How's it feel?"

"I don't think it's broken, but I promised Cottle I'd have it looked at today." She picked up her coffee and sipped it. "Later. Still raining now."

"I called in at the base, and let the school know you'd be in this afternoon." Bill slid into his chair.

"Good. I need to get those essays back to the students." Laura tucked a leg under her and leaned on the table. "Well?"

"Well what?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"What aspect of my life were the two of you discussing?" She took another sip of coffee.

"I was catching Saul up on Adar's attempts to regain your favor." Bill grinned at her and leaned forward to brush her hair out of her face.

"Hear the defensive maneuvers worked out for you?" Saul lifted his mug toward her.

Laura sighed. "Yes they did." Facing Saul, she tilted her head, inspecting his face. "We missed you."

"Even you?" He teased.

"Well, Bill has some new playmates now, but we wondered about you." Laura hesitated. "And Ellen."

"Still, well, alive." Saul shrugged. "I guess. Still confused at it all."

"Gives Kara some more hope." Bill mused, as Saul glanced at him.

"For Sam." Laura supplied.

"Not Zak?" He looked surprised.

"No. They figured out they were better as friends." Laura smiled.

"Thick as thieves. Along with Laura's sisters and mine." Bill shook his head. "Again, nice to have someone else to even out the numbers."

"Bill…you know people will still remember…" His voice trailed off.

"Still, there was only one of you." Laura frowned. "Although Ellen…"

"One time happening." Saul ran his finger around the rim of his mug.

"So." Laura glanced at Bill. "Have you discussed anything about after…"

"No. We actually just started." Bill began as she cut him off.

"That's a second pot of coffee." Her gaze swung to Saul, who chose that moment to take a swallow of coffee. "Fine. What did you tell him?"

"We talked about the weather last night." Bill supplied. "And how he happened along in time."

"Right." With another sigh, she stood and moved to the cooler, opening it to eye the contents. "Nothing. We need to go to the market again. Cereal it is." Retrieving the milk, she set it on the table before crossing to the cabinet and pulling out bowls and a canister of cereal. Sitting back down, she fixed her bowl and leaned back in the chair as they followed her lead. "So, Lee's all right?"

"Still fine." Saul gestured with his spoon. "You know about him and Ishay?" At their nods, he chuckled. "Never saw that one coming, but it works. They head out for about eight months, then come back and fill us in on what they found. It's not been easy, but people have made a go of it. Interesting mix of living off the land and figuring out how to adapt basic science to fit our, their needs."

"Is Ellen still teaching?" Laura's lips curved up at the question. "It just amused me, after all the comments she made…"

"I know. But, hell, guess you made more of an impression on her than you knew." He shook his head. "In addition to drinking her under the table."

"One time." She giggled.

"I believe the pilots mentioned that." Bill added dryly.

"Yeah." Saul grinned. "That was when Ellen began to believe she'd underestimated her. Yeah, she's still teaching. Was still teaching. Had a system started, worked with Caprica of all people, and Tyrol, setting up a mentoring system as well."

"Using her personality for good." Bill stated, grinning. "The Ellen you always saw that was blurred to the rest of us by her, um…alternative behaviors."

"We can pick 'em." Saul grinned at Laura. "No offense."

"None taken." She picked up her mug with the bandaged hand and winced, setting it down quickly. "Frak."

"We're going in to have it looked at." Bill paused, a thought coming to him. "No one's called…well, frak."

"What?" Carefully unwinding the bandage on her hand, Laura glanced up. "I thought people were just giving us a chance to sleep in."

"No. I turned the phone off last night." He craned his neck to look at the set on the wall. "Six messages. Sounds like both families."

"Of course." Laura sighed. "You get to answer them. I took all the calls last night." Standing, she bent to kiss him lightly. "I'm going to get dressed so we can head into town. Sherman gave me the name of someone to go to for my hand."

"Go. We'll clean up down here." Bill stood and crossed to a cabinet, pulling out a bottle and shaking two pills out of it. "Take these first, just minor painkillers."

"Thanks." She took them from him and popped them into her mouth, using his coffee to wash them down when he handed her the mug.

"Let me see." Taking her bruised hand, he winced. "You definitely have some damage there."

Laura shrugged, "as long as I didn't get it boxing, Mama can't be that upset with me. Richard now?" She giggled. "He'll be lucky to get out of town before she can find him."

"He'll not be back. Not this time." He pressed a gentle kiss to the livid bruise, careful not to press down on the swollen area. "Go on upstairs."

"Back in a few." She paused at the door and looked back at Saul. "It really is good to see you here."

"Thanks." He nodded at her as she slipped through the door, closing it behind her. Chuckling, he stood and started clearing the dishes from the table. "Frakkin' domestic, the two of you."

"With all the benefits." Bill grinned as he picked up the phone. "You mind?"

"Nah." He started washing the dishes. "Got used to it, with Ellen teaching. We ended up splitting the chores. And, she did end up being a better cook than me."

"That sounds like a story." Bill hit the button to replay the waiting messages.

"One of many." Saul chuckled again. "You got any supplies? I can fix the door while you're out as well."

"Back in the stable, just follow the path." He paused the message and met the other man's eyes levelly. "You gonna be okay out here while we're gone?"

"Yeah. Still acclimating." Hesitating a moment, he finished drying a bowl and turned to face Bill fully. "Thanks."

Bill grinned. "Bout time you got here."