This goes out to TJ, who reminded me I had unfinished business...
Which remains unfinished, but hey, some things take longer to end than others...
Brick Wall Incident #3
By: Mariel
-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-
She awoke, instantly aware of where she was and who was next to her.
The man was a frakking traffic hazard, she thought. Rolling over against him, she sighed as she remembered how she'd ended up crashed against him this time.
It had started innocently enough - he'd walked her through the corridors of Galactica to the transport raptor standing ready to take her home to Colonial One. They'd been talking about a plan Gaeta was working on to prevent cylon infiltration of their computer systems. The proposed idea had been interesting and daring and had provided the perfect excuse for the two of them to spend a little more time in one another's company.
Then she'd done it. Reaching the docking pod, she'd turned and impulsively asked if the Admiral would share dinner with her while they finished discussing Gaeta's plan.
When he hesitated, she'd held her breath. They hadn't seen one another privately for more than a week, and she guessed that he was trying to stay faithful to her request that they stop putting themselves in awkward situations - awkward being her clever euphemism for we'll-end-up-frakking-like-rabbits-if-we-do-this.
She'd felt like a teenager when he'd finally finally replied with a formal, "Of course, Madame President." After notifying Tigh he would be conferencing with the President on Colonial One, he'd followed her into the raptor. Feeling his presence behind her, she'd straightened her shoulders, resolutely telling herself that she could do this. She could enjoy his company, share a meal and good conversation, and keep her hands off of him.
How difficult could it be?
The warm tingle between her legs should have been all the answer she needed...
Her thoughts stopped for a moment when Bill tightened his grip on her and snuggled against her more closely. She sighed. Obviously, she should have paid more attention to that tingle.
Scratch that. Paying attention to it is what had gotten her into this position. She should have ignored it. Totally. Completely. Ruthlessly.
He made it difficult, though. He was just too there to ignore.
Rubbing her cheek against his arm, she smiled. On her own territory, she had ended up being the aggressor. With focussed deliberation, she'd put both hands on the steering wheel, taken aim, and driven into him at top speed.
He hadn't known what hit him.
She smiled. Brick walls made for such easy targets.
And appreciative ones. He'd loved every minute of her taking the lead and had given evidence of his enjoyment in very pleasing ways.
It'd been exhilarating.
It'd been exciting.
It'd been damned sexy.
And, she decided, far too long since the last time.
Collapsing into an exhausted, contented heap, they'd rested peacefully until the time for him to leave had arrived.
And then, taking complete leave of her senses, she'd asked him to stay.
He'd objected.
"What would it look like if I left here in the morning?" he asked. "You're worried about people talking; that would definitely be something for them to talk about."
"Oh, and it's all right if I'm seen leaving your quarters?"
"Of course not," he said, and patiently explained the obvious reasons the Galactica leant itself to better, excusable opportunities for them to be together without being found out.
"Why can't we just say you fell asleep here?" she asked, ignoring his voice of reason.
"Remember what you said about using the same excuse twice?" he asked pointedly.
That stopped her for a moment. Feeling a growing determination to have her own way, however, she stubbornly dug in her heels. "I'll think of something," she announced with more confidence than she felt.
He looked at her askance. "You'll think of something?"
She didn't like his tone of disbelief. "Yes," she insisted, surer than ever in the face of his obvious lack of faith. "I'll think of something."
Humour warmed his eyes, and she felt him relax.
"This I've got to see," he murmured.
"So you're staying?"
He settled himself more deeply into the bed. He was a brave man, a man born to take chances, a man determined to beat the odds. How could he refuse this challenge? Deciding to see this thing through, he wrapped his arm around her firmly. "Nothing could move me," he vowed.
Then he remembered. He had a pilot waiting to take him back to Galactica, and he was Admiral of the Fleet; there were people responsible for knowing where he was at all times. A lot of people. People who needed to contact him if cylons attacked or something blew up or something big broke down...Galactica would have to know where he was, and him announcing that he would be spending the night on Colonial One in the President's quarters couldn't possibly be a considered something no one would feel worthy of commenting on.
Military grapevines were fast, efficient, imaginative, and brutal.
He sighed. Staying was just asking for trouble.
"I have to go."
She lifted her head and glared at him. "You do not. At least not now. Leave later."
Much later, she added silently.
He played a sympathy card: "Laura, I've got a pilot waiting who wants to go home tonight. He needs his sleep."
She trumped his sympathy card effortlessly, saying, "So send him home. Tell him you're going to find your own way back."
He looked at her incredulously. "Find my own way back."
She nodded.
"To Galactica," he said, not hiding his disbelief.
"That is where you came from, yes," she said, nodding.
"Laura, we're on two different space ships. Space ships. It's not as though I can sneak out the back door and walk back, or hail a cab from an alley." When she looked as though she was about to object, he quickly added, "And you can't treat raptor transports like taxis."
"Why not?"
Bill opened his mouth to respond and then paused.
Why not? indeed.
His mind worked furiously. "Fine," he finally said. "So I'll send him home and tell him I'll have someone else get me when we're finished arguing over fuel allotment figures."
She smiled triumphantly and decided not to question why he knew so much about sneaking out back doors and hailing cabs in alleys.
"You can also mention I'm being a stubborn ass about things and will keep you far longer than is acceptable," she told him. "Then, when you call for someone at 0400, it'll be no surprise. Everyone knows I love discussing fuel. We'll have a lovely sleep together, and then you can go home and get ready for another day." Yawning, she lifted herself enough that he could get up and go to the phone.
He looked at her. "That's the excuse you're going to use for tonight?"
Still half-risen to let him get up, she looked back at him, frantically going over what she'd just said. A ridiculously surprised look crossed her face, followed quickly by one of deep satisfaction as realisation hit her.
"Yes! Of course it is! Not bad, eh?"
He grunted. "It might pass with the raptor pilot, but Tory won't fall for it."
Refusing to let him take the wind out of her sails, Laura promised confidently, "I can take care of her."
Nodding, but not totally convinced, he rose.
When he returned, she adjusted herself happily around him on her small mattress and relaxed.
After a few moments, she realised he was about as far from relaxed as one could get.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't sleep."
"Why?"
"This bed is too small."
"This bed is fine. It's almost as wide as yours, and a hell of a lot softer."
"That's it, then; the bed is too soft."
She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. "No, it's not. It's comfortable," she said. To illustrate, she flipped over onto her other side and spooned herself against him comfortably. After sighing softly, she admonished him, "Now stop being such a baby and go to sleep."
He closed his eyes and tried to think of sleepy things.
Instead, he thought of soft things. Like the feel of her ass pressed up against his privates...
Slowly, his fingers trailed her arm. Her skin was unbelievably smooth to the touch. He flattened his palm to increase the contact, then slid it along her body and down over her hips. It felt good to have a naked body pressed again his...And he truly loved making love with her. They'd gone too long without indulging, but on the upside, if their activities tonight were an indication of how she acted after a dry spell...
"You feel good," he murmured against her ear as he gently pressed his growing hardness against her.
"That's good," she said. Determined to fall asleep before he started something, she remained motionless and her eyes firmly closed so as not to encourage him.
He lifted himself up and kissed her softly on the side of her neck.
She fought the desire to open her eyes. Playful, just-frakked Bill was settling in for a second campaign. Tomorrow, however, wasn't that many hours away, and it was going to be a busy day...Keeping her body carefully still, she pretended he wasn't there.
He, however, knew she was there, and busied himself taking full advantage of that fact.
"I love your skin," he murmured. Moving as far away from her as he could without falling off the bed, he encouraged her with a gentle hand on her shoulder to lie on her back. He then trailed gentle fingers across her stomach, just beneath the swell of her breasts. Curving his body, he slowly retraced the trail with his lips.
She sighed as her body totally ignored her brain's desire for sleep and began to respond. The window of opportunity for a decent night's sleep slammed firmly shut.
Lying next to him now, his warmth a comforting presence, she knew it had been worth it. And there had been a few hours left for sleep - she'd even had time to awaken in the middle of it. A wave of satisfaction coursed through her. She liked these extended times with him. Frakking and then parting would have ruined the whole experience. Pleased with herself for convincing him to stay, she snuggled against him and softly returned to sleep.
-xxx-
The alarm going off startled him awake. He thought the sound of it akin to the air raid sirens they'd used during the Cylon Wars to warn the civilian population of attacks.
"Gods, what is that?" he asked. Blindly reaching over to what served as her night stand, he pounded on the top of a square object until the blaring noise stopped. "You need something like that to wake you up in the morning?" His head flopped back down on his pillow. "I'm surprised it doesn't wake the entire fleet."
Laura stretched contentedly. Moving so that her head was once again on his shoulder, she said, "If I have to be awake, everyone should have to be a wake."
He lifted an eyebrow at her. "Feeling Presidential this morning, are you?"
She nodded and smiled. Lifting herself up on her elbow, she looked down at him. "By the way: Good morning."
He looked up at her. Her hair was mussed and tangled and there was a red mark on her cheek from sleeping on a crease in her pillow. The soft skin around her eyes was puffy, and she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
He felt a tingle and laughed at himself. There was no fool like an old fool...
Lifting his hand, he pushed her hair over her shoulder, then gently exerted enough pressure to the back of her neck that she bent her head towards him. He brushed his lips over hers.
"Good morning."
As she moved back slightly, he noticed the time on the clock and stiffened. "Gods! It's 0630! I was supposed to leave by 0400!"
She looked down at him, her hair sliding from behind her shoulder. "So we talked longer than expected," she said carelessly.
"No, no, no!" he exclaimed. Setting her firmly away from him, he sat up. "Laura, there's a big difference between 0400 and 0630. Leaving at 0400 means we worked unusually late. Leaving at 0630 means I stayed the night. I can't believe you didn't set the alarm."
"You didn't say to."
His eyes widened. "It was your plan! I shouldn't have to tell you what to do to pull it off!"
"It went off," she said defensively, "and woke you quite nicely."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew they made no sense, but she stared at him resolutely and stuck to them.
"I'm talking about your plan, not the alarm!" he snapped. "And the alarm should have been set for about 0345!" He reached for his clothes. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself into a calm place.
"What are you going to tell Tory?" he asked in a lower tone.
"I'm not sure. I'll think of something," she said, missing that just-frakked happy person who had greeted her both mornings on Galactica.
Her answer abruptly shoved him out of his calm place, forcing him to struggle with an angry retort. She was not getting the hang of this.
"Laura, there will be people at my door by 0700. I'll need to explain why we're all meeting at my door at the same time - on the same side of the door."
She looked at him. "I'm sure you'll think of something to tell them. Obviously, I'm not as used to coming up with stories to cover my liaisons as you are!"
His eyes widened. She wasn't as experienced? His jaw tightened. And just how did she and Adar- He pulled back on his thoughts before he voiced them. Don'tgothere, don'tgothere, he told himself determinedly. Instead, he groused, "You make it sound as though I've needed to made a habit of it!"
"And I'm to think you haven't because...?"
He moved his hands helplessly. What kind of argument was this? "What in the gods' half acre does that have to do with anything?" he asked. "The issue is that I need to get off this ship discreetly and I can't see a way of doing it, and you're not-"
He stopped suddenly.
"What?" she asked.
He rose quickly and began to throw on his clothes. To hell with it. He needed to act. "What time does Tory get in?" he asked.
"About 0700."
"Good. I'm going to be out there," he said, nodding towards her office, "and sound asleep when she gets here. You're going to be a little late waking up, and will just be coming out into your office area when she arrives."
"You're going back to bed? Dressed?" she asked, totally not getting it.
"No," he said, zipping up his trousers. "I'm going to be out there in one of those lounge chair things. It'll look like I fell asleep during our meeting and you just let me lie. You'll come out and be surprised I'm still here. You'll wake me up, I'll leave, and that'll be it."
She shook her head. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. No one in their right minds would believe I'd let you lie there and sleep all night."
"Got anything better?" he said between clenched teeth.
Her mouth closed.
"I didn't think so. Tory fell for it once, we're going to have to ask her to fall for a variation of it again. Now," he said, heading for the doorway, "I have to set the scene."
He pushed back the curtain and disappeared into her office.
She lay there a moment, then with a muffled exclamation got out of bed and went to the shower.
She was dressed and ready when she heard Tory arrive. Moving quickly, she fixed a bright smile onto her face and lifted the curtain that separated her private area from her office.
"Tory! I was just thinking about my morning coffee and-"
She stopped abruptly, allowed her gaze to slowly follow Tory's, and then pretended not to understand what she was seeing.
"Oh." she finally said. "He didn't wake up. I thought he'd have gone..."
Walking over to where Bill had set himself up in one of the reclining seats, she shook his shoulder. "Admiral Adama! Wake up! What are you doing still here?"
Bill did an exemplary job of slowly awaking. Straightening quickly once he realized where he was, he looked around, reached down to pick up a file that had obviously fallen off his lap, and apologized, "I'm sorry, Madame President. You were saying something about the viper fuel rations...
Laura had to stifle a giggle. He was good, with a definite flair for the dramatic. No wonder his speeches - which often made very little sense - went over so well. It wasn't what you said, but how you delivered it...
Admiral," she said, "It's morning. You've been here all night."
He looked around in confusion. "All night?"
She nodded.
They continued their charade while he called for a raptor, had a quick cup of coffee together while he waited for it to arrive, and then departed. As he left, Laura watched his back and sighed. Brick walls obviously didn't transplant well. He had been fairly relaxed by the time he'd left, but she was certain they would need to spend most of their time together on Galactica.
She smiled at the thought. There was no downside to that, really. His bed was more comfortable. And it would mean seeing more of that just-frakked Bill she was beginning to appreciate so much.
-xxx-
Tory saw Roslin's smile. Recognising the just-frakked quality of it, she knew better than to believe a word or gesture of what she had just witnessed. She knew damned well where the Admiral had slept the night before. If he'd slept. Let them play their little games, though. She'd take care of any gossip on this end and warn Colonel Tigh he might have some covering up to do on his end. Shaking her head silently, she brought the president her second cup of coffee and then sat down at her own desk.
She looked across to where Roslin was busily reading through the morning's schedule. She decided it'd be fun to make a not-terribly-subtle comment later that morning about recent sleep problems amongst fleet leadership.
She smirked. And maybe mention the hickey on her boss's neck before the first meeting of the day.
End Incident #3