Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel. Violet Adama and Priam Bennick are mine. Dream sequences are in italics.

Chapter 6: Fate's children

Violet was walking through Galactica when the klaxons went off. Soldiers and civilians alike ran through the halls and she pressed herself up against the wall to keep from behind knocked down. Somehow she had made it to CIC and spotted the admiral. "This is Admiral Adama, everyone abandon ship. I repeat, everyone abandon ship!" he called out on the wireless.

She glanced at the viewscreen and saw Cylon basestars attacking Galactica. At first she thought that it was a memory of what happened before. But then she noticed that the admiral did not have a mustache and the colonel had his eye patch. In a panic, she dashed back into the hallway.

It was empty, but filled with smoke and fire. Coughing heavily, she tried to crawl underneath the smoke. A door blew out in front of her and a wave of fire blocked her path. Then Jake appeared in the flames. "You cannot let this happen, Stats," he told her before the dream ended.

She woke up coughing and moved herself to a sitting position as Roslin entered the room with a glass of water. Handing Violet the glass, she sat next to the girl. "Vie, are you alright?"

It took a while before Violet could answer as she downed the water. "No, I dreamed that the Galactica of this timeline was attacked and I couldn't get out," she answered.

"You're safe now," the president tried to reassure her.

The girl shook her head. "Mom, there's more. Jake was there again and he told me, 'You cannot let this happen, Stats.'" Violet paused, realizing something. "I called you 'Mom,' didn't I? Sorry."

Roslin smiled warmly and gently moved a strand of hair behind the girl's ear. "It's alright, I really don't mind if 'Mom' slips out when it's just the two of us."

The girl nodded and proceeded with her next question. "Does that chamalla stuff stay in your system for a while and give you weird dreams?"

"Yes," Roslin told her with a sigh. "Why did Jake call you 'Stats'?" she inquired.

"He called me 'Stats' because I was always beating the odds in things. He even told me that I should be a test-pilot because I had a greater chance of surviving. I make my own odds," she replied frankly.

Roslin chuckled softly. Like me, and like Bill, she sets a course different than the ones who've gone before her. "Did you hear anything else that you think is important in your hallucination earlier, or in your dream?" Roslin inquired.

Violet set the empty glass down on the floor and eyed the older woman strangely. "Yes, but aren't they just from the chamalla?"

"You might actually be having visions. Who in your timeline found Kobol?" the president questioned.

The girl chewed her lip in thought for a moment. "My mom was having visions and when Dad showed her a map, she saw the actual city that used to be there. She said the visions were sent by the gods and that was all that anyone ever told me. Dad was skeptical at first, but Mom convinced him that it was worth looking into, especially after he got shot. The two of them spoke with the president, Bruce Alliard, and everyone went down together. The medics were furious with Dad because he left before they could finish treating him. One of them gave him a long lecture on how he wasn't being careful enough and how many medical supplies he used up. It wasn't his fault that he got shot."

"It seems that you had several problems with medical supplies," Roslin remarked.

Violet nodded. "We were short on supplies, but we were also short on doctors and people who knew what they were doing. What does this have to do with what I've been seeing?"

When Roslin sighed and folded her hands in front of her, Violet knew that what she said next would be important. "When Caprica was destroyed, I was told that I had breast cancer and six months to live. I was forty-third in a line of government officials for the presidency and I ended up with the job. The Pythia scrolls talk about a leader with a wasting disease. I was taking chamalla among other things for the cancer and I began having visions. I could also look at a map and see it differently, with regard to Kobol. Genetically we are related, and you might have similar abilities."

"Jake said that I had a destiny here and that you would understand what I was seeing," Violet added.

"And he might be right. I would like to know one thing though: how did you get the Arrow of Apollo?" Roslin probed.

"The museum on Caprica got robbed before the Cylons attacked and the guy who took some of the pieces was trying to sell them in a black market scam on Galactica and Kara caught him," Violet relayed, rubbing her eyes.

Roslin remembered that it was still the middle of the night. "Perhaps we should get back to sleep and talk about this in the morning?" she suggested.

Violet yawned and nodded. "I like that idea."

In the morning as Violet waited for the shuttle, she and Roslin discussed what she had seen in her hallucination and the dream. "He told me that I was where I am supposed to be, and that I had a destiny here," Violet relayed.

"I suppose we'll just have to be alert then. Tell me if you see anything else," Roslin advised.

Violet turned to see Tory in the doorway. "I will. See you later," she said as she stood.

"See you later, Vie," Roslin told her with a smile as the girl left with Tory.

Priam greeted Violet with a polite smile and handed her a stack of papers. "Would you mind passing out the tests when the students get here?"

"Sure," she responded.

After she had passed out the papers, the students took their tests and Priam showed Violet what she would be teaching while they waited for the students to finish. She collected the tests later and glanced over at him after placing the papers on his desk. "Miss Violet, the board is yours if you'd like to give us a physics lesson," he stated.

"Thank you, Mr. Bennick," she gave a nod of appreciation, much like Roslin, and stepped up to the board.

Her lesson went well and after she was finished, he taught a few of the other subjects. As the students filed out, she walked over to where he sat, already looking over their tests. "I pictured teaching a small group of them, but I think it went well."

"I wanted them to see you as another teacher first. Were you nervous at all?" he questioned.

"Actually I wasn't, but that's probably because I felt good about what I was teaching them. Meeting a few of them yesterday helped too," she responded. "Know who you're working with, know your material-"

"And smile," he finished. "Roslin said that a few times to me when I first started this classroom."

Violet had ended up sitting in his desk chair while he sat on the edge of his desk. "How old are you?" she inquired.

"I'm twenty-two. You look about seventeen, maybe eighteen," he observed.

She smirked. "You guessed it. I'm seventeen," she passed and glanced at the door, relieved that Tory had not shown up yet. "A friend of mine, Jake, used to tell me that I'd probably look older if I wore my hair down and a skirt, but what you see is one of the few things I own. It's not as if extra clothes are floating through space."

Priam chuckled and shook his head. "I like your sense of humor," he mentioned. Then she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. "Jake? You knew Jake Camaretti?" she realized her mistake and was not able to hide her expression of panic well enough. "He never mentioned you. We lost him on New Caprica."

He watched her carefully, as if interrogating her by just looking at her. "It's not the Jake you knew. I can't explain right now," she admitted.

Sighing heavily, he gave her a weary glance. "I want you to know that you can trust me. Maybe it would help if I told you my story."

"Priam, you really don't-"

"Vie, you don't even know what really happened on New Caprica, do you?" he paused and she shook her head. "Baltar had us settle on the planet and we thought the Cylons had left. After the Cylons came back there, some of us got involved with rebellion groups. I was using bombs and helping with prison breaks. On one of the runs I got surrounded by several of the metal ones. I knew that I had to distract them long enough for people to escape what we had set up earlier, so I started the bomb and set in on the ground. They had lost their weapons in a run-in with our people before they found me. While they tried to shut it off, I tried to escape. That thing took out forty Cylons and it only cost me half a leg. It took some getting used to, but I'm lucky to be alive," he explained.

Both sat in silence for a moment. Finally Violet looked up at him and reached back to her hair band. She pulled out the ponytail that she usually kept her hair in and spread it out. Then she stood and crossed her arms, smirking. "I can't tell you everything, but," she paused and picked up a set of lab goggles sitting on the far edge of the desk," this might add to who I am," she commented as she put them on to look at him over the top of them.

He blinked and cocked his head to one side. "You're not even going to tell me why you look like her, are you?"

She set the goggles down and pulled her hair back again. "I can't yet. You're gonna have to trust me on this one," she stated as she left, seeing Tory in the doorway.

That evening Violet and Adama were eating dinner with only each other. "The president couldn't join us this evening because she had a meeting with some of the delegates and Lee has a late shift today," the admiral explained as he brought out dinner.

They both picked at their algae quietly. Adama watched the girl and then looked down at his plate. She did the same right after him. Finally she broke the silence. "How was CIC today?"

"Nothing too exciting. We've just been watching the planet," he replied.

Once again the clanking of forks against dishware echoed through the room. "So… what did you do today?" he asked her.

She faced him. "I worked with one of the schools again."

"Doing what?" he pursued.

"They have me teaching physics for a while, the kind that applies to practical things like our ships," she explained.

"That's good," he mentioned, unsure of what to say next.

Since they had actually talked finally, Violet decided to keep a discussion going. "Dad, can you tell me what happened with New Caprica?"

He raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "I forgot that it didn't happen in your timeline," he paused and spoke again, looking past her. "Laura- I mean President Roslin lost the election to Gaius Baltar."

Violet almost choked on her algae. "That idiot? What were people thinking?"

Adama smiled. "Not much. What did he do in your timeline?"

"He's some sort of mad scientist who talks to this invisible person," she responded.

"Sounds like him alright. As I was saying, when he became president, instead of continuing to look for Earth, he had us settle on a planet after we fought the Cylons for it. About a year later they came back and attacked us. The battlestars had to regroup and leave for a while to form a strategy. We got the people off, but we lost the Pegasus. Tom Zarek was temporarily the president and then Laura Roslin was sworn in again," he recounted.

"In my timeline, Zarek got himself shot when he caused a riot on the prison ship," Violet relayed.

It would serve him right, Adama thought. "At the moment, he's the vice president," the admiral grumbled.

From the way you said that, you'd probably be happy to throw him out an airlock, Violet mused. "If you think he's dangerous, are you having him followed?"

Adama blinked in surprise at how well the girl seemed to read him. "No, he's still respected among various circles of colonists."

"You're probably short-handed anyway and you can't spare someone to risk following him," she rationalized.

He nodded in response and that was the end of their conversation as well as their meal. "Night, Dad," she said as they walked to the docking bay. Her smile by itself said that despite the awkwardness of dinner, she wanted to spend time with him.

Seeing that no one was around in the hallway, he smiled back before replying, "Night, Vie." Just before the shuttle arrived, she surprised him by throwing one arm around his waist for a quick hug. As he watched her leave that evening, Adama wondered how he was going to deal with the girl and resolved to see Roslin at some point during the following day.

Violet walked onto Colonial One just in time to see Tory leave. The aide dealt the girl another glare, to which Violet simply shrugged and continued walking into the president's office. Roslin was putting the day's files off to the side as the girl walked into the room. She stood and walked over to her.

"Hello, Vie, how was your day?" Roslin inquired.

The girl smiled and accepted the hug that Roslin offered. "It was fine. Priam told me about his leg today and I taught a bit. The kids were interested and it was fun," she mentioned.

They walked over to the shuttle's seats and sat. "I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying yourself. You know," she paused to look the girl squarely in the eyes, "for Priam to trust you enough to tell you about something so personal, it means that knows you're mature enough to handle whatever comes your way, and it means that he considers you a friend. He called me again, asking me if I was related to you."

Violet put her hands to her mouth. "I can explain," she began.

"He's observant enough to see the resemblance, and I suspect that you may have helped him with that one. He didn't ask me in order to expose the family secret," the president paused and smiled mischievously. "The question actually slipped in. I told him that you would tell him when you were ready. He was actually calling to ask if he should retrieve you himself instead of having Tory bring you. You aren't getting along with her, are you?"

The girl shook her head. "She despises me, but we made a truce. I'll be alright riding with her as long as we never have to speak to each other," she relayed.

Roslin chuckled and shook her head. "I'm sorry about that," she commented. Violet shrugged and the president continued. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to join you for dinner. How did it go?"

Violet looked away for a second as she undid her ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair. "I make him tense. We talked, but I think he's not quite sure what to make of me."

The older woman brushed the girl's hair with her hand. "Give him time. He's as delighted to have you as I am; he's just a bit shy about it."

"Dad, shy? Are we talking about the same Bill Adama?" she asked with a smirk.

"You're something new for him. He knows how to be a parent, but I think he's not sure how to be a parent to you," Roslin mentioned.

In the morning Violet rode over to the colony ship with Tory again. "I don't see why you cannot just go by yourself, but the president insists that someone escorts you places," the aide grumbled.

"You're the one who doesn't want me around the press," Violet remarked plainly.

Tory pursed her lips. "While that may be true, that may be true, this is still a waist of my time."

Violet raised an eyebrow. "Was there somewhere you needed to be today?"

"No," the aide stated curtly. That was the end of the conversation. Both were relieved when the ship docked.

Violet exited the ship and practically ran to the classroom. She glared behind her before greeting Priam. "Problems with the parole officer?" he teased.

"That's an understatement," she replied with a smirk.

"Did Roslin tell you that I offered to come and get you?" he reminded.

Violet put her hand up. "Thanks, but I need my daily exercise in frustration."

He shook his head and chuckled. "Most people get actual hobbies."

"This is a hobby," she remarked with a grin, gesturing around the classroom.

She was able to use the board again and taught physics to the group. After the students had left, she had a few questions. "Priam, do they get any literature classes, or is what we teach the main curriculum?"

"After they leave us, they have a few hours of literature and art," he explained. "How are you doing?" he probed.

She put on the political front. "I'm fine, thank you."

He scoffed. "That's bologna again. I'm giving you space on your background, but if we're going to work together, then I'd like honest answers from you," he commented.

Absorbing his words, she nodded slowly and walked around to the other side of the desk to put the lids on the extra whiteboard markers. "Alright, it's been an odd couple of days, I'm really not thrilled with the algae stuff we have to eat, and the family I have left is confusing," she admitted.

As he grinned wryly, he perused through a black zippered bag that he had brought with him. "Try this and if you like it, I'll bring you the recipe tomorrow," he told her as he brought out a small container and handed her a clean fork.

Upon opening the container, Violet noticed that the contents were green, but had several other ingredients that gave it orange and yellow colors. She took a bite and smiled. "This is great. What is it?"

"I found a way to make quiche out of the algae. My father was a gourmet chef," he explained.

While Violet had been working with Priam, Adama decided to take a lunch break and visit Roslin. The president looked up as he walked in. "Bill, when you called you sounded like you needed to talk. What's up?"

He handed her an algae sandwich and pulled out one for himself from the small black bag he was carrying. Even though this was almost the end of his bread, he had figured that he might as well share it with her. "Have you eaten lunch yet?" she shook her head and glanced at the sandwiches. "I decided that if I was going to take your time talking, I might as well bring you lunch too."

"Thank you," she said appreciatively.

They each took a few bites and then he began to talk. "I never had a teenage daughter to deal with before, and I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do with Violet. We had dinner last night, just the two of us, and I hardly knew what to say to her," he explained.

Roslin raised an eyebrow. "You usually have very good people skills."

He took another bite of his sandwich. "I know. Why am I having so much trouble relating to her?"

"Did you talk about anything?" Roslin asked.

"I told her about New Caprica and Baltar. Zarek came up too, but most of that was facts," he relayed.

Roslin put her sandwich down as she talked. "Bill, ask her about the school, about her teaching physics to the kids. Ask her about the teacher she's working with."

His eyes widened as he realized how little he knew about the girl. "You're right. I suppose I've just been nervous." Then he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I've made mistakes with my sons; I don't want to make the same mistakes with my daughter."

Roslin stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You won't because you learn from your mistakes. You might make new ones, but we all learn from them," she tried to reassure him.

"But it seems natural for you to get along with her like you do," he mentioned.

"You want what's best for her, and that's a start," Roslin pointed out. He stood and sighed, starting to pace. She took his hand so that he would look at her. "I know what's bothering you: you're worried that you won't live up to the father figure that she remembers. What's going on in your mind is in your eyes," Roslin remarked.

Adama sighed and studied her for a moment. "When did you learn to read me so well?"

She smirked. "It's been slow learning on my part, but it's worth it."

He smiled back. "Thank you for helping with Violet. You didn't have to let her stay with you and you didn't have to find her a job," he mentioned.

"Of course I 'didn't have to' do any of it, but I wanted to, Bill," she explained as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "I like having her around, and I want to be a part of her life too."

They hugged and then separated. "That's good to know."

Roslin looked away for a moment and chewed her bottom lip. He watched her, knowing that something was on her mind. "She's going to need a guardian because she's not eighteen yet," Roslin remarked.

"Yes, and I plan to sign the right papers to do that," he mentioned.

"But Bill, what if something happens to you? I was hoping that you'd let me be her guardian too," Roslin conveyed.

He watched her for a moment, scarcely believing that she could be that serious about the issue. "You're really willing to do that?"

"Yes," she stated confidently.

I wonder what this means for the two of us. Would you be a bigger part in my life too? He reached out and cupped her cheek with his right hand. "Laura I…" but he did not know how to explain what was going through his head.

Her lively green eyes looked into his deep blue ones to discern his next move. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned toward her. Their eyes slowly closed as their lips met for a gently kiss. It was similar to the one he had given her when she was dying, but there was more than tenderness and comfort this time. He pulled back only for a second as they shared wry grins. They shared a few more warm kisses, each one lasting slightly longer than the last.

Then the phone rang. They broke apart reluctantly and Roslin answered the phone before handing it to Adama. "I have to go back to CIC," he told her. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "See you tomorrow, Laura."

"You too, Bill," she returned as he pulled away and made his way toward the door. She watched him go and stared at the doorway long after he had left. Oh deities, I'm falling in love with Bill Adama. How in the name of Kobol did that happen? Perhaps our other selves picked up on something that we decided not to notice, Roslin mused.

Adama was having similar thoughts as he walked back to CIC after docking. Have we lost our minds? Could I really be falling in love with Laura Roslin? When did this start? Good grief, maybe our other selves in Violet's timeline understood something we missed, he reasoned as he stepped into CIC to resume his work.

(My thanks to carolann, Trinity Everett, Joj, asouldreams, Phaser Lady, and daydreamer for reviewing :D).