Downfall

Disclaimer: All Battlestar Galactica characters and places belong to Moore, Larson and Universal and are used without permission
Pairing: Laura/Adama
Rating: R for adult situations.
Spoilers: Colonial Day. This takes place immediately after the episode.

A/N: Well, this one was a long time coming. I started it a couple of weeks before I saw the episode but had to rewrite it because I didn't particularly like the episode. Then I ditched the rewrite and ended up with this. I know this is one of the ones many folks have been waiting for, so I hope it doesn't disappoint. Many, many thanks to Vicky for recapping the episode for me that allowed me to at least start thinking about where this series was going with this story.

There is a "racier" version of this story on the LauraRoslinFanfic and crossposted to the BSGShippers yahoo groups.


"Don't take this the wrong way," the President began, "but you're a surprisingly good dancer."

Commander Adama pulled her along through a fairly intricate set of steps. He grinned at her when they'd finished and were back to the gentle swaying from before.

"My grandmother taught me when I was a boy," he confided. "She always said 'a gentleman knows how to dance'."

She smiled at him. "A gentleman, a patriot … Commander, your talents are showing."

"Not all of them," he murmured with a roguish grin.

Laura laughed and shook her head. "I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

They twirled easily to the tinkering of the music. The other couples on the dance floor slid away to make room. "For letting me handle the Zarek situation."

"You said you could handle it and you did," he returned. "Besides, it gave me a chance to see things from your point of view for a change."

"From my point of view?"

The music wound down and a new song started, slower and more intimate. The lights dimmed and almost naturally, she stepped in closer to her dance partner and felt his arm slide fully around her waist. Now cheek-to-cheek, he could speak directly into her ear.

"I got to see how the professionals do it."

She chuckled against his shoulder. "And did you enjoy the show?"

"I have to say, you play the game masterfully," he told her. "I was surprised."

"Why?"

"I didn't expect you to have a taste for it."

She frowned and stiffened in his arms. "You sound like Wally."

He nodded in acknowledgment. "He was upset about your decision to go with Baltar."

It wasn't a question so she didn't bother to answer. Right now, she didn't want to think about Wally's anger or disillusionment. She had done what she needed to do to protect what was left of the Colonies from Tom Zarek. She didn't have the luxury of consideration of people's feelings. The kicker in all of this was that Zarek was right about a great many things and under some circumstances, she would have agreed with him. But barely fifty days after their entire civilization was almost wiped out, a mere month and half after their very species was nearly rendered extinct, was not the time to be thinking about anarchistic change. Zarek was right that they couldn't pretend that things were business as usual but there were other things that needed to be tended to first, such as staying one step ahead of the Cylons and finding the materials that they needed just to get by. They could entertain the nihilistic musings of a self-seeking terrorist once they knew if they'd have food to last the week.

"Still with me?" the commander enquired. She couldn't see his face but could hear the amusement in his voice.

"I don't have a taste for it," Laura said suddenly. "I hate politics."

"I'm sure you do, Madame President." She could feel the rumble of suppressed laughter in his chest.

"Are you making fun of me?" she asked through her own grin.

He leaned into her and spoke, his lips brushing her ear. "Wouldn't dream of it. So you hate politics. You're still very good at it."

"I'm not afraid to pull the trigger to get something I want, if that's what you mean." she told him. "It's not my first inclination, but I will do it when I have to."

He paused in his movement and pulled back long enough to stare at her. His expression was almost troubled for a moment and she wondered if the edge that had crept into her voice had been too sharp. His gaze was probing and disarming and she had to fight the urge to look away from it. Instead, she lifted her chin with an air of defiance and was relieved when the intensity in his eyes gave way to amusement.

With a shake of his head, he pulled her back to him, closer this time so that she felt the press of him against her body from cheek to knee. His uniform was stiff and poked her in places, but underneath, his was warm and solid and so very alive.

Laura sighed and allowed her cheek to drop to his shoulder, not really caring how it might appear.

"And what if it's someone you want," Adama whispered, almost too low for her to hear.

She nearly missed a step at the sudden flash of excitement that gripped her. It had been nearly a week since he'd kissed her on Colonial One. It was a moment that had not been repeated nor spoken of since, but Laura could swear she could still taste him; still feel his tongue sliding between her lips; still feel the hardness of him pressing against her as his hands pulled her close.

But he'd backed away from her then and had actually seemed to be trying not to spend any time alone with her. He'd canceled one of their bi-daily meetings and had had Tigh sit in on the other one. To some extent, she understood his sudden caution. Something was changing between them, morphing this thing, this attraction, into something else. She didn't try to name it – didn't want to name it – but things were most definitely different than they had been.

Before his husky whisper into her ear, she had thought that perhaps they'd waited too long and had let the opportunity pass quietly away. But now, it seemed that maybe, just maybe they'd finally worked out their abominable timing.

She nuzzled her face a little closer and said, "Ah, but he would have to be willing."

Now it was his turn to miss a step and Laura found herself smiling that she'd finally managed to rattle his unflappable cool. It didn't take him long, though, to recover. He was Commander Adama after all.

"And if he were willing?"

She closed her eyes and gave herself one last moment to assess, to think it through. Throughout her life, she'd never been particularly apt to jump from relationship to relationship; from man to man. There had been two men that she'd loved down to her soul. There had been a close friend who was sometimes her lover when neither of them was attached to anyone else. There had been perhaps a dozen flings with men who'd caught her fancy long enough to learn that they had nothing to offer her when they weren't in bed. And there had been a single one-night-stand with a man who later became her friend.

All of those men from before were lost to her now; all of them were dead, except for the one that she'd saved from Cylon nukes only to mangle with politics. Laura had never regretted that one night with Wally Grey until today when she'd named Gaius Baltar as her Vice President.

She did not want William Adama to become another regret. She knew that he could be her greatest mistake. This had probably already gone too far as it is. But she was also coming to the end of her resistance. Never in her entire life had Laura felt so completely drawn to a man. Even the ones she had loved hadn't pulled her in like this so fast. There had to be something about him, something about the situation compelling them to be together, she reasoned. Maybe it was being faced with her own mortality in such an immediate way that made her want to grasp onto something to make her feel alive. Maybe –

Laura's eyes snapped open and she stopped herself. She was over-thinking again when it was time to simply feel. There would be consequences, she could feel that with indubitable clarity. And she was almost certain that somehow, William Adama would be her downfall. But right now, within the warm bands of his arms, it seemed like a reasonable chance to take for the opportunity to feel after so long.

"If he was willing," she whispered huskily, "then he should offer me his arm and escort me back to his ship."

His steps slowed to a stop and even though they were in the middle of a song, in the middle of the dance floor, in the middle of a celebration, in the middle of the end of the world, he pulled back and looked deeply into her eyes. Her breath left her in a rush at the potent intensity in his expression. If she could think, she might have wondered if anyone was watching them; if anyone could see or feel the shifting of something powerful. Could they feel the weight of the decision made? Did they know that the course could now not be changed?

For the second time tonight, he offered her his arm. This time, when she took it, she nearly stumbled at the visions that filled her mind; her skin sliding along his; his mouth against her breast; her hands in his hair; his thighs between her own. It was as inevitable as it was irrevocable. And Laura couldn't help but smile in anticipation as he led her down the path of no return.


On the shuttle back to Galactica, neither Commander Adama nor President Roslin said a word. They were not alone. Her guards sat quietly to her side, chatting amiably to each other; their conversation and the pilot's wireless chatter the only noise breaking the silence.

He chanced a look in her direction. She sat composed as ever, back ramrod straight and barely touching the cushion. He could see the tension in the lines of her shoulders and in the subtle twitching of her hands as they rested on her lap. But when he looked at her face, she gave him a slow, sexy smile and his heart pounded beneath the medals on his chest.

Adama knew that this was probably a bad idea. He'd wrestled with it for long enough to realize that he'd made a mistake. He had never been a man to fall easily. He'd had his share of conquests with women who had "loved" him for the allure of being with a viper pilot on a command track but he'd only been in love once in all of his life.

Caroline had pursued him and he'd let her catch him because she was beautiful and exciting and he had been ready to settle down. His love for her had come a little later, after he was already committed to her but before they'd gotten married. He remembered that she asked him on the eve of their wedding if he really loved her and he'd felt ashamed that until the moment she asked, he hadn't been sure.

But he had loved Caroline; just not well enough. And when she finally got tired of coming in second to his career, she kissed his cheek and left. He still admired her in many ways. She put up with a lot over the course of 20 years and had given him his sons. For that, he had always loved her even if it was just a little.

After the divorce, there had been a few women here and there, mostly for something to do or to scratch the occasional itch but none of them had consumed him or challenged him or made him want.

Until a president walked onto his ship and set him aflame.

It wasn't just her beauty that drew him in or her personal sense of presence that made her occupy his thoughts. She was a powerful woman and not just because of the office she held. She was incredibly self-aware and exuded the confidence of a person who knows exactly who she was. And she was unapologetic about herself with a "take me or leave me" air. She wouldn't change herself to suit others and she may bend when pushed hard but she would never break. She had proven that to him time and time again over the past six weeks of their tempestuous partnership in running the fleet. And today, Tom Zarek had learned the same lesson Adama himself had early on: underestimating her in any way was an error you didn't want to repeat too often.

Adama had to admit that Laura Roslin wasn't usually a woman that would attract him. She was strong-willed, bordering on stubborn and she wasn't above manipulation as a means to an end. While he would stop short of calling her a liar, she was a politician and could mask dishonesty with the best of them. To his knowledge, she'd never intentionally lied to him but she had secrets that she guarded heavily and he had apparently not yet gained enough of her trust to even get a sniff of them.

Roslin was also very adept at closing herself off. She could shut her emotions down like flipping a switch, something that Adama found irritating. He could never get a bead on what she was feeling because she wouldn't show it. He did have to acknowledge, however, that this was a main complaint that Caroline had had about him. If his ex-wife had found this as maddening as he did in Laura Roslin, he thought no wonder she divorced him.

Because of these traits, the president was also a challenging person to get to know. Every time he felt that they had progressed to a point where they could talk – really talk – to each other, she backed away; often giving him that politician's line of bull that left him feeling hollow and cold. But then just as frequently, she might smile at him or say something with just the right inflection and expression that he felt himself slipping further and further.

He barely knew her; he barely liked her most of the time, but he had stopped lying to himself that he wasn't falling in love with her. She wasn't the only one who could do self-aware and Adama reasoned that acknowledging his own mistake of feeling too much for a woman he wasn't even sure he could trust would serve him better in the long run if things went horribly wrong.

And if things went right and she began to feel the same, well, that was all the better.

His rumination carried him through the docking of the shuttle and now she stood close to him, waiting for her security detail to give the all-clear. Again, he offered her his arm and she slipped her hand around his elbow with a wan smile that he returned. He found himself feeling nervous as he escorted her through Galactica's quiet corridors to his cabin. It had been a while for him and he didn't want to disappoint her. He thought that maybe he should offer her a drink but then remembered how badly alcohol had mixed with whatever medication she was taking. The last thing he wanted tonight was for her to pass out on him.

They crossed the threshold to his cabin and he secured the hatch behind them, locking them in. There would be no interruptions tonight.

When Adama turned from the door, his eyes found her and he gave a laugh. She had already kicked out of her shoes and discarded her jacket. She was now pulling her blouse from where it had been tucked neatly into her skirt.

"Eager?" he teased.

"Ready," she shot back and then grinned at him as his eyes followed her fingers down the buttons of her blouse.

"Should I help you with that?" he asked, feeling himself heating with anticipation. Whatever nerves he'd felt only a few minutes before were being chased away by the tightening in his groin at the sight of her.

Laura cocked her head to the side, her hair sliding down her shoulder in a silky auburn wave. "You could." She dropped her hands to her hips, her blousing hanging open just enough for him to see the skin of her flat stomach and the clasp of her black bra. Her green eyes danced and smoldered as they perused him from head to toe unabashedly. "Or you could reciprocate."

Her voice was deepening and she stood there waiting for him to accept the challenge.

With a smile, he removed his sash and undid the clasps of his dress jacket. Swiftly, he slid it down his arms and folded it neatly over the back of a chair. In his undershirt and pants, he sat down and removed his shoes and socks and placed them neatly by the sofa.

When he sat back up, he noticed that she had moved closer to stand in front of him as he sat in the chair. He looked up to find her looking down at him, her hair framing her face as she gave him a look full of such affection … For a moment, he could see something behind her eyes, deep feelings for him and he felt glad that he had waited until they were really ready for this. He couldn't imagine making love with this woman without feeling it. It seemed so right now that he couldn't suppress his sigh of relief.

He reached out and pulled her to him so that his lips could kiss the soft skin of her stomach. The scent of flowers was at the same time subtle and pervasive and he allowed his hands to circle her hips to cup her firm backside in his palms. Laura sighed and her fingers settled in his hair, stroking and soothing; simultaneously arousing and comforting.

Adama lowered his hands down the backs of her thighs until he reached the hem of her skirt. He slipped underneath and touched her bare legs. Moving up so slowly and raining kisses onto her belly, he skimmed her thighs, raising the skirt until he felt the soft lacy fabric of her panties. Gently, he hooked his fingers on the sides and pulled them down her legs until she obliged him by stepping out of them with a soft moan.

Something about her now made Adama burn with urgency. Whether it was the sexy sound that had escaped her throat or the fact that she stood before him naked under her skirt, something made his need explode through his body. He couldn't wait any longer.

He stood suddenly, hard and aching and looked down into her eyes.

"Bill," she whispered, gasped and her hands came up to frame his face. She was trembling and he forced himself to calm down enough to find out if she was ready.

"Laura," he began, "I want –"

But she didn't let him finish his sentence as her mouth crashed into his and she was kissing him deeply. Her tongue invaded his mouth and she moaned again as his hands reached up to cup both of her breasts.

He found them to be a perfect fit for his hands and he ran his thumbs along the swells of softness spilling out of the top of her bra. Breaking the kiss, he bent down and tasted a bit of that flesh, sucking and nibbling. He knew he was marking her and it made him burn all the more, knowing that tomorrow under her suit, she would bear his mark. For as long as it stayed blazoned on her skin, she was his.

"Yes," Laura hissed, with her head thrown back. It was almost as if she'd heard his thoughts because he pulled his head closer, encouraging him to bite harder. So he sucked hard and long until a faint taste of copper touched his tongue. She hissed again, her fingers pulling his hair and he licked the painful spot on her breast to soothe it before he pulled back enough to look at his handiwork. It was deep purple and almost angry-looking but it made his erection jump wildly in his pants as a primal instinct in him sang at the sight of it.

She was his until it faded and from the looks of it, that would take days.

He smiled ferociously and pulled her back to him, claiming her mouth roughly. He felt gratified and excited that she gave as good as she got and he felt her teeth nip at his lip and her hands tug sharply at his undershirt, yanking it up until he was forced to pull back for her to draw it over his head.

Her nails raked down his chest, combing through the light covering of hair, as her lips, teeth and tongue explored his neck. Bill knew that he couldn't take much more of this. The need was too great, too sharp and too urgent. He felt like he could explode through his pants at any moment.

As gently as he could, he pulled her head away from his throat with his fingers wound in her hair. He groaned at the dark look in her eyes.

"I need you now," he whispered and she nodded immediately.

They shed the rest of their clothes quickly and he guided them down onto his bed. He kissed her again, deep and long and felt her legs rise around his waist and when they finally joined together, her name exploded out of him and he felt so much in that moment, that he almost made the devastating mistake of revealing his heart. He kissed her to keep the damning words from being spoken and groaned as his hips finally met hers.


Laura was fighting not to fly apart at the completeness she felt. Tears welled in her eyes and she was grateful that he started kissing her fervently and did not see.

As she had suspected, their lovemaking this first time was almost frantic. They had been building up to this for so long that she couldn't contain her pleasure and soon felt herself at her peak. His hands clenched at her hips until he cried out softly, a vulnerable, almost heart-breaking sound in her ear as he too succumbed to the feeling. She felt him throb as the released himself and rode the final waves of her own pleasure as she listened to his ragged breathing.

He collapsed slightly onto her before catching himself and rolling them over onto their sides. Panting, Laura buried her head into the niche between his chin and his shoulder. The combined smell of their sweat and other bodily fluids comforted her as she ran her fingers gently over the scratches she'd inflicted on his back and sides.

His hands combed through her sweaty hair gently as his breathing began to even out. He shifted his hips slightly and slipped away. She smiled slightly and leaned in to place a kiss at the base of his neck.

She was glad that he didn't seem to want to talk right now. Instead, he seemed content to simply hold her and be held by her in silence. It seemed appropriate somehow that with how much they had actually talked about doing this, that they would be quiet now that it was done.

Regardless, it was nice to just feel and to be in his arms and feel safe and warm and wanted. And exhausted. Laura fought to stay awake but the languid contentment spreading through her limbs made her feel so sleepy. She tried vainly to stay awake and hold onto this incredible moment but her eyes disobeyed her command and closed anyway.


She awoke sometime later to the feel of his hand drawing her thigh up over his hip. Without opening her eyes, she found his mouth and his intense, open kiss rekindled the fire inside her.

They re-joined with a comforting ease and rocked in a slow, languorous rhythm, hip to hip, mouth to mouth. The urgency had been slaked and now they took their time. She learned that if she rolled her hips slightly as she tightened that it made his breath catch and his hands clench at her flesh. He learned that she didn't like sharp thrusts, but seemed to come apart at slow, deep ones. His nipples were sensitive to her fingers and she liked when he held her tightly, almost roughly against him.

And still they kissed, tongues dancing across teeth and lips as they shared breath.

It seemed like forever, this slow torture to their mating. The ebb and flow of their movements was as natural as breathing until finally he sobbed out her name and came deep inside her. His arms crushed her to him and the pressure of his embrace, the very possessiveness of it, pushed her over the edge and she heard her own cry join with his sighs of pleasure.


They slept again and this time it was she who woke him with her gentle stroking and lazy, wet kisses to his chest. This time, their loving was playful as he sat up and pulled her astride him. He could look into her eyes as she slid along his lap. He licked the sweaty skin at the base of her throat as she threw her head back while she rode him. Her pace was erratic; sometimes slow and sometimes frantic as she took her pleasure without reservation. He tickled her ribs just as she reached orgasm and her cries and laughter melded into such a joyous sound that he found himself pulling her down onto himself tightly as he came again, feeling happier than he had in many, many years.

They rested for a while until she looked at the clock. 0415. She sighed.

"You need to go," he said quietly, his hands soothing her back.

Laura nodded. "I don't want to." She kissed him softly. "But spending the night here once can be explained away. Twice …"

He grinned. "People will think we're sleeping together or something."

She laughed and twisted down to suck at his nipple. "Can't have that."

Adama groaned and pulled her back up to look at her mischievous face. "Thought you had to go?"

She leaned in and kissed him. "I do. I know. I'll be good."

He doubted that but didn't say so. "Would you like a shower?"

She stretched and gave him a sultry look. "Will you be joining me?"

He laughed and leaned down to kiss her. He loved kissing her. "Maybe you should go by yourself," he murmured against her lips, "if you actually want to get clean."

She pulled back and pouted. "Spoil sport."

He shook his head and eyed her appreciatively as she flipped back the covers and stood naked by the bed. She looked incredibly sexy with her mussed hair and glowing skin. "You'll find everything you need in the bathroom," he told her.

"No, I find everything I need right here," she said looking deep into his eyes. After moment, she smiled again and sauntered away into the bathroom, leaving him confused and wanting.

He didn't know exactly what her last comment meant but he decided it didn't matter right now. They hadn't talked about what would happen tomorrow when they couldn't be just Bill and Laura in his bed but had to be the Commander and the President in front of the fleet. They hadn't even talked about if this would be something that was repeated. Again, he decided that it didn't matter right now.

What did matter was that this stolen moment in time was coming to an end and as he heard the shower start, he realized that they could afford a few more seconds for themselves.

She had, after all, issued the invitation.

He climbed out of the bed with a devilish grin and joined her in the shower.


End. Until Kobol's Last Gleaming.