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

Chapter 5: The way you sip your tea

Bill had dropped off breakfast, handing the tray to Hannah the following day. The girl still glared at him, but thanked him for the meal. Later while he was working his shift, Cottle called and told him that he had managed to duplicate the algae-based baby formula. The doctor also added that the Cylon test came back negative. It was the only good news for a while though. His shift dragged on and still they had found nothing.

Saul looked over at his CO as the man kept glaring at the viewscreen. The colonel stepped closer to his friend and whispered, "Why don't you take a break, Bill? You can tack more time on your shift later. You look mad as hell and I'd hate to see what would happen if Dee or Gaeta made any mistakes today."

Adama snorted. "You really think I look that bad?"

The XO nodded. "You haven't looked this bad since a third of the fleet went to Kobol."

Bill glared at Saul, but decided that maybe his XO had a point. Then he headed for his quarters. He had only walked in the door and picked up a report when the phone rang. He reached over to answer it. "Adama."

The voice on the other end did not need to give a name. "Bill, I hate to bother you, but I'm exhausted. Hannah's bored out of her mind, but I'm having enough trouble dealing with Charlotte. I was going to put the baby down for a nap and take one myself. I know it's a huge inconvenience, but I was hoping that I could send Hannah to you and you might find her something to do."

He sighed. "But she doesn't trust me."

"Give her a little time. Please?" Laura implored.

Why can't I ever say 'no' to her? "Fine. Send her over," he acquiesced.

He waited for what felt like fifteen minutes, listening for a knock. When he didn't hear one, he decided to open the door. Just as he had suspected, he noticed her walking away. "You know, if you knock, people actually open doors around here."

She wheeled around and sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice and I could go somewhere else."

Motioning for her to come inside, he closed the door as she reluctantly entered his quarters. She flopped down on his couch as he took a chair. "I know you don't like me, nor do you trust me. For some strange reason your mother has sent you here, so we should make the best of it."

"You might fool her, but you can't fool me," she grumbled.

He groaned inwardly. "What can I do to earn your trust?"

She scooted forward on the couch. "Tell me what my hobbies are."

"That's not fair. I don't know you," he expressed.

"This whole situation isn't fair," she retorted.

Who the frak do you think you are, kid? Bill took a deep breath. Remember, she's only twelve and her life has been turned upside down. "Do you like Pyramids?"

She shook her head. "Try again."

He sighed. "Triad?" She gave him another head shake and he used his last resort. "Dolls?"

Hannah rolled her eyes. "You're ice-cold."

Adama placed his hands on his knees, attempting to summon his last vestiges of patience. "You're gonna have to give me a hint."

The girl crossed her arms and shot him a look that he recognized as belonging to Laura Roslin. It was a glare in between 'you don't get it' and 'leave me alone.' "Can we just go to the gym?"

Standing, he sighed again. "Yes."

When they reached the gym, he noticed how she entered it and trotted directly over to ring, taking off her shoes. As she was warming up with a few stretches, a shorter female pilot walked over to her. "Hey kid, what are you doing here?"

"I want to try out a few sparring moves I've learned," Hannah answered.

The pilot looked her over incredulously. "I've got some spare time, so I'll humor you. What's your name anyway?"

"Hannah. What's yours?" the girl asked as the woman entered the ring.

"They call me Stinger," the woman replied.

Adama moved closer to see that Hannah did not hurt herself, but was surprised by what he saw. Stinger was trying a standard wrestling move, but Hannah had flipped her over in a move that Adama had never seen before. After a few more curious moves, Stinger left and Hannah called out, "Next."

Two pilots later, he decided that it was time to leave. "Come on, you don't need to draw any more attention to yourself."

She shrugged and breathed, "Fine," before exiting the ring.

On the way back to his quarters, he had a few questions for her. "What exactly were you doing in there?"

"Klingon self-defense moves," she responded nonchalantly.

"'Klingon?' What's that?" he inquired.

She glanced over at him. "They're another alien race in the Alpha Quadrant. They have a war-like lifestyle and they had a self-defense class where we've been staying."

The more I know about her, the more questions I have. "Why would your mother put you in a class like that?" he asked as they entered his quarters.

She smirked. "It doesn't sound very lady-like, does it? I was so afraid of Cylons. She and Dad wanted me to have more confidence, so they thought the class would be good for me."

I'll have to ask Laura later about Hannah's father. "Why are you so belligerent toward the Cylons? I mean I don't blame you but I'm curious what your particular tiff with them is," Adama questioned.

Pulling her feet up on the couch, she spoke. "The model called Doral kidnapped me not long after the fleet jumped past the red line. I was tied up on the floor for three days without food because of him."

He tried to convey as much sympathy as he could into the look he gave her. "I'm so sorry."

"It's past," she commented dryly.

"I got shot twice by an Eight," he admitted.

"You should've learned your lesson with the first bullet," Hannah remarked.

Bill jerked his head toward her and eyed her incredulously. When she smirked again, he chuckled, rather than correcting her on the bullets. "I guess you have a sense of humor after all."

She laughed. "Most people do."

When her gaze left his, he watched her look from his coffee table, to his desk, and then to his bookshelf. Of course. Now it makes sense. He stood and made his way to the bookshelf, thinking about which book he could share with her. Strangely his gaze kept coming back to Dark Day. I hope you don't mind, Laura. I think it would do her some good, he mentally commented as he extracted the book from its secure place and returned to the couch.

The book was worn, with one corner curling. Dirt from Kobol still clung to the spine. "I think you might like this," he remarked, handing the book to her.

She accepted the book and confirmed his suspicions when she grinned brightly. That expression too, was familiar to him. His Laura had smiled like that when she had given him Blood Runs at Midnight. It was a smile mixed with happiness and pride. "Took you long enough. You finally figured out I'm a bookworm."

"I should've thought of that first," he admitted, smiling back.

As she opened the cover though, he mentally kicked himself for forgetting the inscription. As Hannah read it to herself, he recalled the words: 'Laura, this book is a gift, a piece offering. Never lend books. It's times like this when we need to remember what's important and keep our eyes on the goal. Despite our disagreements, I owe you my life and my son's life. And I won't forget that. Bill.'

Hannah looked up at him slowly. "You wrote this for your Laura, didn't you?"

Bill nodded. "Yeah."

She gave him Laura Roslin's lopsided sympathetic smile. "Death blows like tillium dust."

He let a half-smile slip out. "That's for sure."

Hannah returned her attention to the book and began reading it. While she sat on the couch quietly, Bill read through more recon reports from Earth. An hour later a knock interrupted the comfortable silence in the room. He stood to answer it and found a familiar figure in a gray robe at his door, holding an awake, though quiet baby. He ushered her inside.

"How did things go with Hannah?" Laura asked, not noticing her daughter on the couch.

"We got off to a rough start, but things are better now," Bill explained.

Hannah jumped up from the couch. "Mom, he gave me a book, Dark Day."

Laura raised an eyebrow and looked back at Bill. "Never lend books," he related.

The woman smiled. "I knew you'd find her weakness sooner or later. Thanks for… looking after her."

In that moment he wanted so much to reach out and touch Laura's face, her hair, to establish some sort of contact. He looked back at Hannah for a moment, reminding himself that the Laura in front of him was not his. "You're welcome."

As the three of them left, his eyes drifted back to the bookshelf. He sighed, seeing the empty slot that Dark Day had been hiding in and swallowed the lump in his throat. It wasn't doing me any good, sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Books are meant to be read and enjoyed. My Laura would've understood.

(My thanks to Mamabella, Ceridwyn2, McGonagallFan, Alecandrain2, max72, Mariel3, carolann, and Mcspender for reviewing :D)