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

Chapter 7: The way you sing off key

In the morning, Bill had not even left for his shift yet when someone knocked at his door. Before he opened it, he thought he heard crying. I have the feeling I'm going to be late today, he reasoned as he saw Laura in the gray robe holding a crying baby. Ushering them inside, he quickly closed the hatch. Then he faced her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Laura sighed heavily, walking toward the couch as Charlotte continued to cry. "I'm not really sure. Sometimes she gets tired of me and wants to be around her father. I know you're not her real father, but you sound like him and she doesn't know the difference."

Bill eyed both of them warily. "So you want me to hold her?"

"Please," Laura answered.

He held out his arms and she placed Charlotte into his grasp. To minimize the risks, he sat down on the couch. "I haven't done this in years."

She smiled wryly. "That's the same thing my husband said a few times."

"I'll bet," he responded, curling his arms around the baby, holding her close to him.

"He also has this habit of shaving when he's unsettled, particular when he's upset with me," Laura relayed, watching him.

Bill smirked. "That's a habit we share."

"When I told him I was pregnant, at first he thought I was kidding. Then he went over to the bathroom and lathered up to shave. I think I heard him mutter 'what have I done?' at least three times while he was shaving," Laura admitted.

Chuckling, Bill observed her joining him on the couch. "Sounds like a good case of shock."

"It was. We were living on New Caprica at the time and he had just decided to move planet-side," Laura mentioned.

"What happened when the Cylons came back?" Bill inquired.

"Let's see, I was still pregnant then. He took Hannah and me back to Galactica and the ships jumped away," she explained.

"I had to leave my Laura down there," he said quietly.

Laura looked at him with sympathy. "I'm sure she understood. I would have."

He sighed heavily. "Still doesn't make it any easier."

"Life wasn't made to be easy. It was made to be lived," she relayed.

Bill dealt her a half-smile before looking down at Charlotte. "She stopped crying."

"She likes your voice," Laura told him with an impish grin that reminded him of his Laura.

He smiled and handed the baby back to her. "I really should head over to CIC now that I'm no longer needed."

As he rose, she called after him. "I was hoping you'd call the chief so we could find the hole soon."

Bill paused at the door for a moment. Then he headed over to the phone and called the deck. Tyrol answered the phone. "What do you need, sir?"

"Chief, is that Raptor ready yet?" the admiral inquired.

"Yes, sir. I was just going to call you," the chief replied.

"In that case I'll be down in fifteen minutes," Adama stated.

The chief cleared his throat. "Sir, will you be bringing your uh… guest again?"

Adama glanced back at Laura. "I was planning on it."

Laura left the baby with Hannah, letting the girls wait in Adama's quarters again. Then he called Tigh to explain why he would be late for his shift. Eventually Adama and Laura reached the docking bay. The chief greeted them when they arrived. "It's space-worthy, but I'm still making repairs. I wouldn't spend more than two hours in it if I were you. It'll be ship-shape for six-hour flights by tomorrow."

"Noted," the admiral stated.

Tyrol led them over to the Raptor and Laura entered, followed by Bill. As the Raptor left the docking bay for open space with Adama flying, Laura pulled the hood of the gray robe back. "We need to scan for a disturbance in the dimensional boundary," she informed him.

He glanced at the modified panels and then back to her. "It's your ship. Perhaps you can tell me how to begin."

She sat down next to him at the other control panel. "This button here initiates the scanners, and this switch allows them to look for residue from weapons fire…"

Even after her brief tutorial, this 'Federation' technology still confused him. "How does the other admiral fair with this new technology?" he questioned.

Looking back at him, she smirked. "He didn't like it at first, insisting that everything should be done manually. Now he tolerates it."

"Somehow I'm not surprised," Adama responded as they continued scanning the area.

He glanced over at her again and watched as the smirk shifted to a pensive expression. Then her eyes focused on her hands and she sighed heavily. I wonder what's bothering her, he mused.

After an hour, Laura sat up straight as something beeped. "I think we've got something. From what I can tell, the hole should be right out there. Sometimes with these things, they're only visible with the human eye from one side," she told him, pointing to a space by a few pieces of debris.

She pushed a few other buttons and the window shifted to viewscreen mode. "I didn't realize it did that too," Adama remarked.

"It's one of the better functions," she replied.

"If it's only visible from the end that your daughter entered, what makes you so sure that it's not a one-way trip?" he inquired.

She rubbed her temples as she thought for a moment. "I guess we'll find out when we leave." The viewscreen illuminated the hole by creating a blue haze around it. "That's it!"

While he stared at the screen, processing what he was looking at, she stood to stretch. However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her waver a little and brace herself against a bulkhead. "Are you alright?" he probed.

She nodded, but winced as if the sensation of moving her head bothered her. "I'm just dizzy and a little nauseous."

He stood and moved toward her, stopping only when he could look her in the eyes. "It might be from your concussion. We'd better get you back to Galactica."

"That's probably wise," she sighed.

They returned and she pulled her hood back over her head as they docked. When they left, she was leaning on him for support. "Will you be alright?" he asked her just before they reached his quarters.

"Yes. I just need to lie down for a while," answered.

"If you feel worse, go see Cottle." Bill's tone left no room for argument.

Instead of retorting, Laura opened the door to Bill's quarters, finding Hannah lying on the couch next to a sleeping Charlotte. She forgot to lock it this time, Bill mused. Hannah rose from the couch slowly, holding a hand on her forehead above her left eye. "Mom, I have a headache."

Laura looked over her shoulder at Bill. "What you gave me might be a little strong for her. Do you have something elseshe can take?"

"I should," he replied, turning toward his bathroom.

He retrieved aspirin for Hannah and then Laura took her daughters back to the guest quarters with her. Adama called Tigh and told the colonel that he would join him shortly in CIC. Later when he reached the room, the admiral resumed his duties, looking over data of the area. The recon missions had brought back reports of other star systems. Tigh glanced at one of the reports.

"This one looks promising," he commented, handing it to Adama.

His CO scanned the report. "Five planets orbiting a yellow middle-aged star. You could be right. We'll have to check out this one as soon as the other business is taken care of."

Saul knew what he meant and nodded. "How much longer?" he whispered.

"I'd say another day or so," Adama replied, not looking directly at Saul. In the beginning, I wanted them gone. Now I'm not so sure. I'm probably just torturing myself, but I wish they'd stay longer.

When he returned to his quarters after his shift, the phone rang. "Adama," he answered.

"It's me. I think it's best if we discuss plans regarding the Raptor and my departure," Laura suggested.

"That's fine. Come on over," he responded.

He left the door open for her. As she entered, she closed it behind her. Then he offered her tea. She accepted and sat on the couch while he remained standing. "Since we have the coordinates, it won't take much for me to fly the Raptor back through the hole. The problem will be sealing it."

"What do you mean?" he inquired.

She set the cup down and rubbed her neck, closing her eyes for a moment. "It needs to be sealed from both sides. I think some of the weapons you have might work, but they'll need to impact the spot at the same time as the Federation weapons and I'm not the most scientific person to be explaining all this."

"You're doing a better job than I would," he mentioned, sipping his tea.

She smiled wryly. "Thanks, but I'm planning on having people who actually know what they're talking about tell you what you need to do once I'm through the hole."

"Alright," he stated. He noticed that she continued rubbing her neck, turning her head from one side to the other. "How's your head?"

"Fuzzy," she answered.

He raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen Cottle yet?"

She shook her head, standing and placing the empty teacup on his desk. "I'll be fine."

"Maybe I could at least give you a hand with your neck," he offered.

Stepping behind her, he gently places his hands on her shoulders. She agreed and he began his ministrations. As he continued to work out the knots in her neck, she closed her eyes. "That feels good. It's been a long time since anyone's done this for me."

"Shame on them. Someone where you come from ought to know that it's good for stress relief," he remarked.

She chuckled. "You would think."

He had genuinely meant it as an offer of kindness, but the sudden proximity was playing tricks on his mind. She let a moan sneak out, which turned into that 'hum' sound that he had always liked. This was a bad idea. How can I ever let her go after this?

Then to his surprise she stepped out of his grasp and turned to face him. Her eyes regarded him with an odd intensity. Moving closer to him, she ran a hand through his hair, still keeping her eyes locked with his. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"What is it?" he asked with worry.

She shook her head and he reached out, wanting to wipe the tears away. Touching her face had been a mistake that he realized too late. His lips brushed hers gently, but the brief contact would not do for either of them. He leaned in again, capturing her lips with his. She moaned when he deepened the kiss, wrapping her other arm around his neck, pulling him closer while the hand still ruffled his hair. The two broke for air and rested their foreheads together.

"We… can't do this," he whispered hoarsely.

She sighed, moving back to look at his face. "I know. You're right. You're still grieving for your Laura."

His eyes continued to rake over her, even as he took a step backward. "And somewhere out there your Bill misses you, very much."

Putting a hand in front of her mouth to muffle a sob, she took a deep breath to compose herself before looking back at him. "I miss him too."

"You'll see him soon enough," Bill reassured her.

Laura shook her head. "That's not quite… you don't understand. Goodnight, Admiral."

She left quickly, leaving him to gape at her strange reaction. Pouring himself a glass of Ambrosia, he pondered the events of the day and was no closer to an answer as he went to bed.

(My thanks toMcGonagallFan, max72, Ceridwyn2, Mamabella, Mariel3, Alecandrain2, carolann, and murphycatf or reviewing :D)