Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica belongs to Ronald D. Moore and the Sci-Fi channel.
Chapter 2: That will keep me loving you
Adama recovered his voice and turned to look at Cottle. "We need to get her out of here without her being seen. When we get her to Life Station, treat her and test her for being a Cylon."
"My mother is not a Cylon! You're the Cylon!" the brown-haired girl accused. It was in her moment of anger that Bill noticed her eyes: they were a brilliant shade of green.
"We don't have time for this," Cottle told the girl as he removed his lab coat and draped it over the woman before letting the medics place her on the stretcher.
Without too much attention, everyone made their way to Life Station, the girl carrying a diaper bag over one shoulder while still trying to balance the baby as she followed Cottle closely.
Bill Adama's eyes never left the covered form on the stretcher, watching the rise and fall of the chest that indicated life. Tigh walked next to him, muttering "impossible" and "frakking joke" every once in a while.
When they reached Life Station Cottle grabbed a passing nurse. "See that the girl and the baby sister are alright."
The nurse nodded and made her way over to Hannah. But the girl stepped closer to Cottle. "What about my mother. Will she die?"
"At this point I don't think so. I plan to examine her myself. I need you to wait over with Mandie here," Cottle advised, gesturing toward the nurse.
Hannah eyed Adama and Tigh suspiciously. "What about those two?"
"I promise you there's nothing to worry about. They are going to wait over there," Cottle explained, pointing to two seats.
The girl glanced at the slender black-haired nurse. "Alright."
As Hannah left, Cottle pulled the curtain around the bed on which the unconscious woman rested. Bill and Saul sat down heavily in the two chairs as time ticked by. "This has to be wrong. She couldn't have been a Cylon," Bill mumbled.
"If she was one, she's been one from the beginning. It would mean she's the last of the Final Five," Saul mentioned.
The admiral glowered at his XO. "You're not helping."
Saul looked down at his boots. "Sorry. It doesn't explain the kid though. I mean, she acts like she knows us, and she knows Galactica."
"It just doesn't make sense," Bill admitted.
At last the curtain moved aside and Cottle stepped out with a blood sample. He faced the two men as they stood. "My office. Just give me a minute."
A few moments later, Cottle returned to his office with a folder of charts. "Well? Is she a Cylon?" Adama questioned.
Cottle flipped open the folder. "As you well know, it'll take a while before I can tell you that. I'm comparing her blood to Athena's as well as Saul's since you ordered his blood tested when we found out who Four of the Five were."
Bill nodded. "How is she?"
"She's got a concussion, but she should be coming out of it soon. You should know that I ran her blood through the system for an ID check," Cottle mentioned.
Adama placed his hands on Cottle's desk, leaning forward. "What have you found?"
Cottle lit a cigarette. "Her DNA checks out exactly. I even checked to see if we were dealing with a clone. Caprican scientists were toying with the idea before the attacks. Cloning has a deviation though from the original pattern. That woman out there is no clone."
"Then she's a Cylon. There's no other explanation," Tigh argued.
The doctor shook his head. "Somehow I don't think so. I don't have much more than a gut feeling fro now, but I believe she is who she appears to be."
"We'll have to place her in the brig when she wakes up," the admiral advised.
Cottle sighed heavily. "I don't think that's wise. For one, the girl and the baby are definitely hers. Though the older one wouldn't let anyone get close enough to the little one for a blood sample, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the resemblance, as well as the physical signs on the mother."
"She wouldn't be the only Cylon mother who's spent time in the brig," Adama retorted.
Rolling his eyes, Cottle continued. "There's the insistence of the daughter that you're the Cylon, but there's something else I think you should know. The mother's wearing a wedding ring on the appropriate finger. And it's the right size."
"I think it's time we got some answers," Adama stated.
The three left Cottle's office and headed over to the bed. Cottle moved the curtain aside and both men followed him. Bill took a deep breath as he beheld the sleeping woman before him. Her shoes sitting on the floor, skirt and blouse only slightly wrinkled, fiery red hair full and fanned out on the pillow. There she lay, asleep and in what appeared to be the bloom of health.
He watched as her iridescent green eyes slowly blinked. "Bill." Her eyes then scanned her surroundings. "How did I get here?"
Adama swallowed the lump in his throat and attempted to formulate an answer. "You were brought here, in a Raptor."
Abruptly here eyes widened and she tried to sit up quickly. Cottle grabbed her shoulders to slow her. "Whoa. You need to take it easy for a while. You hit your head pretty good."
"But Jack, the girls! Where are Hannah and Charlotte?" the red-headed woman demanded.
"They're both fine. I believe the admiral here has some questions for you though," the doctor informed her.
"How did you find Galactica?" Adama probed.
"You'll have to ask Hannah," the woman began. Then she squinted her eyes, studying him closely. "Bill, why aren't you in a bed? Jack, should he be up and around like this?"
Cottle raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're talking about. He's as healthy as a horse."
"But it doesn't make sense," she argued.
"Right now a lot of things don't make sense," Adama remarked. "You don't make sense. Who are you?"
She eyed him incredulously before wincing and rubbing her right temple. "How can you ask me that? I'm your Laura!"
He glared back at her, his answer becoming a low growl. "I'm afraid that's impossible. You see, Laura Roslin is dead. And I know this for a fact because I was there."
Laura sucked in a quick breath. Then she glanced absently at his left hand and saw no ring. She mouthed 'Roslin' to herself. Slowly she met his gaze again. "I need to speak with Hannah. She's the only one who can tell us what happened when the Cylons attacked."
"That can be arranged," Adama conceded, nodding to Cottle.
As the doctor left the area, Laura spotted Tigh. "How the hell did you survive the airlock? And why aren't you in the brig if you're still alive?"
Tigh's brow furrowed. "I was in the airlock, but they didn't go through with it. Our esteemed President Lee Adama, then only interim president, pardoned me and the rest of the Final Four."
Laura adamantly shook her head. "You're mistaken, Colonel. That's impossible since Lee Adama is-"
"Mom! You're okay," Hannah interrupted.
The woman turned and hugged her daughter. "I'm so glad you're alright, sweetheart. Where's your sister?"
"She's sleeping. One of the nurses is watching her," Hannah replied.
Adama looked to Tigh. "Colonel, I want you to find out everything you can about that Raptor."
"Yes, sir," Tigh answered before exiting Life Station.
Watching him leave, Laura spoke to her daughter again. "Hannah, what happened after I hit my head?"
The girl scooted next to her mother on the bed. "The raider kept shooting at us. I tried to shoot back, and the other shuttles tried to get the Cylons' attentions. Then this cloud thing showed up, so I flew through it, trying to lose them. It worked and I found Galactica."
Laura looked from her daughter back to Adama as if mentally pacing. "I think I know what happened," she said, facing the admiral. "It's going to sound crazy, but it's the only explanation that makes any sense. Lieutenant Herrera explained the theory to me on a tour once. The right combination of matter, mass, heat, and pressure have the potential to create tears in space, such as black holes and, as the Federation refers to them, wormholes. The Cylons were experimenting with some new weapons. I think that those, combined with the unique weapons of our new allies, and the redesigned weapons of the Raptor somehow created a tear that put us into some sort of parallel or alternate universe."
Maybe she hit her head harder than Cottle figured. "You're right, that does sound crazy. And what did you mean by 'allies?'" Adama questioned.
Folding her hands in her lap, Laura replied, "When we found Earth, we found billions of humans. In fact, the entire region of space they live in has dozens of other humanoid species. The ones we've met are part of the United Federation of Planets."
"The Earth we found was a nuclear wasteland, and that was after our alliance with the rebel Cylons," he mentioned.
She blinked at him, wide-eyed. "For us, the Cylons are still a very real threat."
"Do you still think I'm a Cylon?" Adama probed.
She folded her hands in her lap. "No, but you might be a changeling."
Adama blinked. "A what?"
"A changeling, shape-shifter. The Federation just got out of a war with the Dominion. I can't tell you any more than that until I can think of a way to prove that you're not one of them. It's an unfortunate possibility," she relayed.
He ran a hand through his hair. She always did know how to make things difficult. How can I possibly – no, not that. What would my Laura do? I need this woman to trust us or she'll expose herself to the fleet and I can't explain her presence well enough. Sometimes you have to roll a hard six. "I think I can prove we're not… whatever you think we could be, changelings. But I need you to come with me."
"She'll need some sort of covering. I'll see if any of those resident cult nuts left one of their hooded robes behind on their last visit," Cottle recommended.
Laura looked over at Adama, raising an eyebrow. "Cult members?"
He shook his head. "It's an annoyance more than anything we actually have to worry about."
"I should tell Hannah that I'll be leaving for a while," Laura mentioned.
Cottle found a gray robe and soon she had followed Adama out into the corridor. She trailed him at a distance as he led her to the morgue. He paused at the door, resting his hand on the handle. I wish we didn't have to do this. I'm sorry, Laura. Then he opened the door, motioning for the other woman to follow him inside.
When she entered the morgue, he watched as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, feeling the chill of the room. He walked over to a drawer and slowly pulled it out. Laura Roslin was revealed, pale and thin, the burgundy wig securely placed on her lifeless head. Her hands lay across her waist, the right on top of the left, a man's wedding ring blinking from the middle finger of the right hand.
Laura gasped and took a step back. She placed a hand on the nearby table to steady herself. "I'm sorry. It's unsettling, seeing yourself dead. So that's where your wedding ring went," she said quietly.
My almost-wife. "It was nothing official. We had an understanding of sorts."
She looked at the body again. "Cancer?"
His brow furrowed. "Yes. Are you convinced now?"
Laura nodded. "I'm sorry about making you show her to me."
At least she seems to understand, he mused as she reached for the door handle. "Wait. Just give me a minute." The woman nodded as he turned back to his Laura. Why did you have to be right again? I wish you were here. You'd know what to do.
The walk back to Life Station was as silent as the walk from it had been. Almost immediately as Laura had shed the gray robe after entering Life Station, she and Adama could hear a baby wailing. Hannah quickly appeared, holding Charlotte as the nurse, Mandie, trailed with the diaper bag.
Laura took the baby. "Shh, shh, it's alright little one. Shh, what do you need? I'm right here. Shh." Then Laura looked over at her older daughter. "Hannah, would you please find the formula?"
The girl nodded as the nurse set the bag down on the bed. Hannah rummaged through it, removing a bottle. "We've got five left, Mom."
Her mother sat down with the baby, holding the bottle to feed her. Cottle watched the scene with interest. "How'd you get baby formula?"
"You used the algae and devised a good mixture," Laura replied.
"In that case, could I borrow some to analyze? I might be able to duplicate it," Cottle suggested. She nodded and Hannah gave him one of the extra bottles. "I won't need much," the doctor added.
The baby in Laura's lap was quiet after being fed. As she held the baby close, she looked back at Adama. "If we truly have crossed into another universe, then the Cylons could do the same if they find the hole. We need to find it again and close it."
Adama faced her again. She never did pull punches. "I don't know exactly what we're looking for, but we'll do our best. In the meantime, I can put you three in guest quarters just down the hall from me, in case you need anything."
She gave him a small smile. "I know our being here bothers you, but thank you."
(My thanks to Trialia, Alecandrain2, Mamabella, carolann, Mariel3, Ceridwyn2, and McGonagallFan for reviewing :D)