Chapter Five - Enemies brought together by impossible longing

As the Admiral passed the phone, he hesitated then picked it up, "Mister Gaeta," he said as he heard the voice on the other end, "can you track down my son for me, I'm not sure which ship he's on, sorry, but perhaps you could ask around?" He remembered something that may help before replacing the phone and spoke into it again, "Gaeta are you still there?" He listened as his officer responded and then said, "I just remembered Lieutenant Dualla was going to visit him, perhaps she left details of which ship she was travelling too?" Barely waiting for a reply he replaced the phone on the wall.

Damn, it was only hours ago that he had spoken to Dee, she had told him that she was going to try and patch things up with her estranged husband. He had encouraged her. Times were different now, choices were limited. Couples had to work harder than ever to pull through.

He would have to admit when he had first heard the news that they wanted to get married he had been surprised - but at the time lots of couples had decided to make a fresh start on New Caprica, he had just thought it an extension of that. It had been a whirlwind romance that had raised a few eyebrows for sure. Even Laura had been cutting in expressing a little distaste at how quickly Dee had moved on from Billy's death, making a comment about the advantages of being a commander's wife rather than an aide's.

But Bill liked Dee she was a kind and gentle sort. Looking back if it hadn't been for her they may not be here at all. If she hadn't persuaded him to go back to Kobol this whole tale would be very different.

Lee seemed to care for her, though Bill would always have to question Lee's connection to Kara, there was something undoubtedly there between them but Bill was old fashioned and as far as he was concerned Lee had made his choice. No matter the timings - they were married and Adama couldn't help thinking a calming influence in Lee's life right now wouldn't hurt and he had always fancied the idea of grandchildren!

He shook his head at his meandering thoughts and started to leave life stations but changed his mind suddenly and walked though another closed off area.

Adama stood at the foot of the bed looking down at his oldest friend.

He sighed and spoke out loud needing to say the words to his comatose friend even if he couldn't hear them, "Did you know Saul, did you know you were a Cylon?"

He moved slowly round the side of the bed, "Why didn't you come to me?"

He carried on talking, sinking into a seat by the bed, "when did you stop coming, Saul, was it after New Caprica? Do you blame me, for Ellen, for the occupation, for leaving?"

He rubbed his tired eyes, "I wonder if we would have done things differently if you had been at my side. Would we have stayed and fought for our people?"

He sighed heavily, "You weren't there though were you and neither was Laura."

He smiled to himself and looked in his friend's direction, "I know, I know, military decisions but she balances us Saul, she keeps that military swagger we've perfected over the years under tight control."

He rested his elbows on the bed suddenly very tired, resting his forehead on his hands. "I don't understand Saul; this makes no sense, you a Cylon, Tory, Anders, Tyrol for gods' sake. All this time, you've had so many opportunities to destroy us but you didn't, why?"

"Have you been waiting for something, waiting for mistakes, waiting for your moment…or…?" His voice trailed off and he raised his head from his hands, staring straight at the man lying in the bed but this time as he looked his eyes held just a tiny glint of hope, "or were you watching over us, making sure we didn't fail?"

He stood up and looked down on his friend, "Have you looked out for me Saul? You have pulled my butt from the fire more than once."

Adama looked out at the hustle and bustle of life stations as nurses moved in and out of the other curtained off areas. An idea came into his head as he turned back to the bed and stated, "Tory? Was she there to look out for Laura? Anders for Kara? - He did a piss poor job of that but never the less. Tyrol what was his job? Who was he looking out for? The ship? Was that it; was he here to insure that Galactica kept going?"

The Admiral scrubbed a hand over his stubbly chin. "Am I a foolish Old Man for believing in you my friend, you would surely berate me for it if you were awake?"

He stretched his arms out straight leaning forward and placed his hands on the bed, you're different aren't you? Like Sharon, you're ….human."