Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama is mine.

Chapter 5: Making adjustments

While Violet was heading toward a colony ship, Adama had arrived in CIC with the intention of clarifying the events of the previous day. The admiral stood in the middle of the room and faced everyone, noting that Tigh was also present. "You're probably wondering about the girl who showed up yesterday," he began.

"Damn straight," Tigh muttered.

"She contacted CIC because she thought that her father worked here. He was on Caprica when the initial attack occurred. I'm telling you this because she's my niece. I didn't recognize her voice because it's been ten years since I've spoken with my brother or his family," he explained.

Some of the officers raised their eyebrows while others seemed to shrug it off and go back to work. As Adama and Tigh returned to their own duties, the admiral wondered how Violet was doing. The size of the colony ships had surprised her, but she kept quiet as the ship docked, trying her best to say nothing to Tory.

Tory had similar ideas and silently walked Violet over to the make-shift classroom that she was supposed to help with. Previously a storage room, long tables were used as desks lined in rows and the one white board had been a lucky find. Foldable chairs held thirty-five students of varying ages between fourteen and eighteen. The teacher stood behind an actual desk that had been in the storage room under various extra electrical equipment.

"Mr. Bennick, I've brought your aide," Tory stated, noting that he had not begun to teach yet, but was taking role.

"Thanks, I'll take it from here, and please give the president my regards," said the man, motioning for Violet to walk to the front of the room.

Tory left with a nod and Violet politely extended her hand. "I like to be called 'Miss Violet,' by the students and thank you for this opportunity," she began with political politeness.

The young man shook her hand and studied her for a moment as they spoke quietly. "They're reviewing today. Maybe you could walk around and see if they have questions? I've been trying to teach math, history, and various sciences," the teacher mentioned.

"Alright," Violet stated as she began to patrol the rows.

He walked back to his place and addressed the class. "Everyone, we have a visitor who wants to work with us today. Since I'm testing you all tomorrow, you might want to review your notes. You can ask each other, provided that you keep the noise level at a minimum. Miss Violet is here to answer questions regarding your lessons. Perhaps some of you could also tell her what we've left off with," he advised.

Violet noticed a printed out schedule in one boy's folder and noted that Bennick's first name was Priam. Somebody's parents liked mythology, she mused. His brown-black hair was cut short and had a slight wave to it. Since he had not towered over her, she assumed him to be slightly shorter than six feet tall. His small onyx eyes swept the room, watching the class for raised hands, and occasionally his mustache twitched in amusement when he heard snatches of conversation from the students that were not part of the lesson.

To her own surprise, she knew the material well enough to answer most of their questions. Something even more interesting occurred when she encountered a teenager with a physics problem. "I can't get this equation to work," he complained.

She studied the problem and realized that it dealt with the velocity of space vessels. Borrowing his pencil, she found a blank sheet of paper in his scratch paper pile and began to draw the ship. "Sometimes drawing helps to understand things like this. You have your basic equation," she paused to write it, "and then you apply it to your picture. This is an application problem, where you're trying to figure out which ship is faster…" from his desk, Priam watched her with interest.

The student nodded as she concluded the explanation and was able to see his previous error. "Thanks," he told her.

"No problem," she replied with a half-smile.

She helped five other students with physics problems and a few others surrounding them looked up to listen as she explained the problems. When the students left for the day Violet walked back to the teacher. "How'd I do?" she asked.

He gave her a half-smile. "You seem to be pretty good at this stuff," he admitted.

"I always wanted to be a teacher," she relayed plainly.

Reaching into a drawer on his desk, Priam pulled out a few forms. "I need you to sign a few things if you'd like to continue being here, affidavits and stuff."

She nodded and accepted the forms, along with a pen that he handed her. Bent over his desk, she filled them out and he raised an eyebrow as he noticed her last name. "You related to the admiral?" he questioned.

"I'm his… niece," she managed.

"Why didn't you tell me your last name right off?" he inquired.

She looked up and realized that he was scrutinizing her. "I didn't want any privileges for it. If I stayed here, I wanted it to be for my own merit."

He continued talking to her as she filled out the other forms. "How did you get here?"

She hesitated in answering, trying to recall what she had been told to tell people. "I jumped here recently. My shuttle's navigation system blew out when we started this trip and it took forever to find the rest of the fleet."

"Your parents?"

"Killed on Caprica in the initial attack. I was on Galactica for a school project when it happened."

"Why are you wearing a day uniform if you were just visiting?" he pointed out.

Her face colored as she scrambled for an answer. "I found it on the shuttle. What about you?"

"I was on Galactica," he answered simply with a smile.

She smirked at his evasive answer. "How did you end up teaching? I thought every able-bodied man ended up as a pilot, or something along those lines," Violet commented wryly.

Priam sighed and stepped out from behind his desk. "Technically that would be the case, and you were right for a while," He paused to pull up his right pant leg to reveal the metal of a prosthetic leg. "It's fake from the knee down," he admitted.

Violet's eyes noticed the cane finally and she put her hand over her mouth in embarrassment. Oh frak, I am a total idiot. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"You did nothing wrong. I didn't say anything about it earlier for the same reason that you didn't say what your last name was. I don't want you to see me as any less of a person than you did when you first walked in, alright?" he interjected with a small smile.

Unfamiliar to the situation, she smiled back at him. "I guess if nothing else, I'll learn how not to put my foot in my mouth while I'm here."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I go by 'Priam.' I know it's a heck of a name, but blame my parents."

"It's not a name people can forget. And it's 'Vie,'" she conveyed. Her eyes drifted back to his leg and she hopped that he had not noticed.

"I'm not offended, you know. I'll even tell you about it sometime," he remarked, noticing her blush at having been caught. "We should really swap stories sometime. I'd like to know whom I'm talking to."

Violet crossed her arms. "I already told you-"

He looked straight into her eyes with a piercing gaze, but it was not harsh. "I don't doubt that you told me your real name, but what you fed me about your background was a bunch of bologna. You're a bad liar, and I'd know because I was the oldest of seven."

Despite how perplexed she was, she managed to only raise an eyebrow in an expression comparable to her father's reaction to surprises. The expression only deepened the mystery for Priam though. "Is that so?" another mirror reaction from her father.

He smirked. "You're hiding something, but you probably have your reasons, and I'm patient with most people. You do a good impression of the admiral. Will you be back tomorrow?"

"Of course," she answered with professionalism. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've got spunk, I'll give you that much," he looked past her to see Tory. "Looks like your parole officer came back," he added quietly.

Violet smirked, trying not to laugh. "She doesn't like me much, but we have agreed to be civil."

"Good afternoon then, and tomorrow I'll give you a few books and some students for a physics lesson after their tests," he relayed.

"Good afternoon, and thank you," she said before leaving with Tory.

The ride back to Colonial One was silent. Figuring that Tory had nothing decent to say to her anyway, Violet did not mind. She headed straight for the president's make-shift office. "Madame President," she began, noticing that Roslin was alone, sitting at her desk.

Roslin was setting the telephone down as she noticed Violet. She stood and waved her in. "There isn't anyone else here, so it's 'Laura.' Come in, Vie. Tell me how your day went."

Violet sat in a chair in front of the desk and recounted her day, as well as saying that she would be returning tomorrow. "I really hope this works out. It'll be fun to teach applied physics, and they look like they want to learn."

Smiling, Roslin moved a few papers aside to reiterate that Violet had her full attention. "What did you think of Mr. Bennick?"

Taking a deep breath, Violet folded her hands in front of her. "He's going to be interesting to work with. He didn't buy my explanation about being the admiral's niece. It was like he could see right through me."

"I'm sorry, I forgot to warn you about that. Priam just called me though, and he's looking forward to working with you," Roslin relayed.

She called him by his first name, Violet observed. "So you knew him before today?"

"He was a student of mine a long time ago, and now he's a friend," the president answered.

Concern showed in Violet's eyes. "What if he figures out our secret?"

"He's not a Cylon, and I trust him. Whatever he learns won't be a problem," the president replied confidently, standing. "Would you like a glass of water?"

"That sounds good, thanks," Violet commented as she stood as well and made her way to the corner of the desk. Suddenly she felt slightly dizzy and put a hand out to rest it on the desk.

The room on Colonial One melted into a dark-walled room with a black floor and no doors. A man sat on a rock in the middle of the room, looking at a 12-inch high wax candle as it burned, the only source of light in the room. Violet slowly crept over to the man, and then recognition set it. "Jake!" she exclaimed.

Carrot-orange curly hair on his head with a matching agouti and thoughtful blue eyes, he looked over at her and motioned for her to sit. As she did so, she glanced down at the blue day uniform she was wearing and noticed the mechanic's suit that he wore. "Nice you could finally show up, Stats," he stated.

She studied him and took a deep breath. "Jake, what is this place? You're dead, in both timelines. I'm so confused," she admitted.

He put a hand on her shoulder, but she felt nothing. "Hey Stats, beat the odds like you always do. You proved that everything we came up with was out of whack by ending up where you did. I'm not really here, of course, but I've got a message."

"From whom?" she questioned in a teacher-like fashion.

"From the Deities, who else? You will find your way here. The lady who looks like your mom in this time will understand. You have a destiny with these people and you were sent here by the Deities to help them," he paused to look over his shoulder. "Gotta split, Stats, you're where you're supposed to be and you couldn't have picked a better person to help you than that lady," he commented before the vision faded.

Suddenly the room was on Colonial One again and Violet stumbled against the desk. Roslin jumped up and immediately went over to her. "You saw something, didn't you?" she asked, worry edged in her voice.

The girl nodded. "I was talking to Jake."

"May I see your medication?" Roslin requested. Violet pulled the bottle out of her bag and handed it to her.

An examination of the label confirmed what she had suspected. Violet watched the older woman glare at the bottle in a way she recognized. Mom gave one of my teachers a glare like that when I got detention for pushing another kid away from me after he hit me in fourth grade. "Among other things, this contains chamalla extract. One of the side affects is hallucinations," Roslin told her, marching out of her office with the bottle in her hand.

"Madame Pres-Laura, where are you going?" Violet questioned.

Roslin turned back. "You stay here for a while. I need to speak with the doctor about what he's given you."

Violet stayed put while Roslin dashed over to Galactica. As quickly as she could with dignity and in her usual high-heeled shoes, she arrived at Life Station and sought out Cottle. He spun his chair around and stood as he heard her shoes click-clack on the metal floor. "Is there something you need, Laura?" He saw the irritation in her eyes and motioned for her to follow him. "Something tells me that you'll want to talk privately," he stated as he closed the door to the room he had led her to.

She held up the bottle of Violet's medication. "What in the deites' names do you think you're doing, giving my daughter chamalla?" her tone was deadly and Cottle realized two things: first, she did not mind calling the girl her daughter. Secondly, an angry mother was nothing to mess with.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "Now it's not nearly the dosage I was giving you. The combination'll cure the girl," he tried to point out.

"I don't give a damn what the combination is supposed to do. I will not let her go through what I went through. She came by my office and we were talking when she hallucinated! You find a way to fix this. I will not have her taking chamalla and that is final," Roslin firmly articulated.

He sighed and crossed his arms, deciding to speak calmly. "I'll do what I can and see what I can used to substitute the chamalla," he responded.

"That's all I ask, thank you," she stated calmly before leaving.

"Holy frak, this is going to be one big mess. I don't think I've ever seen that gal so riled up like that. I just hope that Bill doesn't come in next and demand the same thing. Can't believe that the girl's causing this much trouble already," Cottle muttered as he headed to his shelves to look for any substitute herbs.

That night at dinner, Dee decided to bring Kara, Anders, and Dee with him, introducing everyone and their respective spouses. "Vie, you might as well meet the whole group," Lee stated.

"Lee, you know I can't stay long. I've got a shift in ten," Dee reminded. Violet noticed the glances exchanged between Lee and his wife.

It looks like she wants to be as far away from here as possible. Boy, I've really been left in the dark on this one. She introduced herself and then Dee was out of the room. Anders looked at his watch and groaned, turning to Kara.

"And I trying to track down someone to fix some of the door hinges where we all sleep. Because Galactica's as old as it is, we're running into all kinds of problems these days. I have a curtain stretched across my quarters at the moment," Anders explained. He stood and then looked at Kara again. "What about you?"

Kara glanced at Violet and then back to Anders. And these two aren't much better, Violet thought before Kara spoke. "Unlike everyone else, when I'm invited to dinner I intend to stay. You see, I'm actually hungry," she remarked sardonically.

"Fine," Anders said as he exhaled and left the room.

Adama and Roslin were cooking dinner while Violet sat with Kara and Lee. "Bill, there is something you need to know," Roslin began as she added seasoning to some of the food. He looked up and waited for her to continue. "Violet came to visit me today and while I was talking to her she hallucinated."

He looked at her, wide-eyed. "Is she alright?" he questioned.

Roslin nodded. "She should be. I think it was caused by the medication that Cottle gave her for her breathing disease. It had chamalla in it, so I had a talk with him and cleared up the problem," the way she said it allowed Adama to wonder exactly how she had handled the situation.

"You chewed him out, didn't you?" he asked wryly.

She smiled back and threw her head back defiantly. "He was not going to give our daughter chamalla!"

The admiral knew that she had said almost the same thing to Cottle. "I'm sure he thought that was amusing. So you're taking ownership of her too?" the question was teasing, but she could sense that he did mean something by it.

Roslin grabbed one of the dinner dishes. "I guess so," she answered simply.

The three in the living room had continued conversing until the others brought the plates out. "So, is everyone always like that?" Violet inquired.

Lee turned to Kara and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged and they faced the girl. "It'd take a while to explain. Bottom line is things don't always pan out like you want them to," Kara explained simply.

Violet smirked, already feeling familiar with the captain. She had always felt more relaxed around the woman and was more likely to say what she was thinking. "No frakkin' duh. There are things you don't have to tell me," Violet stated as the three of them sat down at the table. "I guess the only way to actually make plans is to take things one day at a time."

Kara studied Violet as the girl sat with her hands folded in front of her. There was something familiar about the wry bluntness that she was capable of, as well as the kernel of insight. Violet raised an eyebrow to Kara's scrutiny and the captain snickered, realizing what she had seen.

"Holy frak, you're not really the Old Man's niece, are you?" she probed.

Instead of answering directly, Violet rested an elbow on the table and placed her chin on her fist. "Now why would you say that?" she challenged, smirking.

Violet in that simple gesture had clued Kara in to something else. Kara looked from her to Lee and started laughing. "No way, this is crazy. I can't believe what I'm seeing."

"And what would that be, Starbuck?" Adama asked as he and Roslin brought out the newest algae experiments: algae burgers and algae soup.

"Sir, do you really want to know?" Lee interjected.

"Oh, I think we all want to know now," Roslin responded.

She waited until everyone was seated and inspecting the food. "Sir, Ma'am, Vie here looks like she could be your daughter."

Instead of glaring at her or being shocked at her remark, they simply glanced over at Violet. "Why don't you explain the whole timeline mess, Vie," Adama suggested.

The girl told the captain the same thing she had told the others. When she had finished, Kara whistled. "That's a hell of a trip. Hey, if you need anything, come find me," she told Violet, giving her directions to her quarters, noticing that she was not staying with Anders. Then Kara faced Adama and Roslin with a smirk. "Looks like you two have some catching up to do. Here you've got a teenage daughter and you two aren't even married."

Violet recalled her conversation with Roslin and was about to tell Kara to forget it, but then she remembered that this was Kara and for some unknown reason, she had always been able to get away with saying whatever she wanted to. Roslin ended up chuckling at Violet's expression. "Captain Thrace, don't rub it in. We know this is an awkward situation and would appreciate your secrecy."

"Hey, no problem Madame President. And thanks for inviting me to dinner, Sir. I've gotta go," Kara commented as she stood. "Later Vie, and drop by any time. Anders might not have a door, but I do, so just knock." Violet had Kara laughing as she left because the girl raised her eyebrow like the admiral again.

"It's good to see that some people are the same, no matter what the timeline is," Violet remarked.

"Starbuck is Starbuck," Adama stated. Seeing that Violet had eaten all of her algae burger he asked, "So was the food better this time?"

The girl smiled. "Yes," she simply answered. "It's alright that Kara knows, right?"

"She's pretty much family, so she might as well know," Adama replied.

Lee watched as Violet nodded, but seemed to be thinking something over. "Anders sort of minds his own business and doesn't need to know. And for Dee, it would complicate some things and she's got enough on her plate," he mentioned.

The explanation seemed adequate to Violet and she did not want to pry too deeply into the matter. She helped clean up the meal before going back to Colonial One with Roslin.

(My thanks to asouldreams, Mariel3, carolann, and Trinity Everett for reviewing :D)