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

Chapter 14: The memory of all that

He ushered them inside, closing the hatch behind them. "Why did you knock? This is more your home than mine."

She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know. I wasn't sure what I'd find, and I didn't want to just walk in on you if you had decided to use the shower." She walked closer to him, holding up Charlotte. "Would you mind?"

Adama took the baby in his arms. "There now, it's okay."

"Da," Charlotte said. Bill stared at her, wide-eyed.

"She started doing that when we came back to this universe. He got to hear her first word," Laura said quietly.

"Da."

"Interesting. Shh, everything's gonna be okay. See?" he said, rubbing her back as he seated himself on the couch.

"Da," she said, pulling herself closer to him.

Laura sat down quietly on the other end of the couch, not facing him. He spoke when the baby was quiet. "Madame President, I'm glad you stopped by. There are some fleet matters that Colonel Kira-"

"'Madame President?' Is that where we're at?" she scoffed

"I called my Laura 'Madame President' when I needed to speak with her as the admiral for fleet business. Right now I have fleet business to discuss with you," he explained.

"'Madame President,'" she said again, her tone low and derisive. "I don't feel like being the president today, or tomorrow, or even next week," she spat.

"I know you're grieving and having to put on a act in public is making it worse. I'm not telling you you're wrong; I'm saying that neither one of us has the luxury of putting off fleet matters for very long. What have you told the Quorum?" he inquired.

"The Quorum can all go to Hades in a hand-basket," she muttered quietly. Then she stood, pacing. "I told them that Dr. Cottle had been trying a series of medications and that, with Starfleet's help, has cured him. Now what is so important that it couldn't wait until later?" she drilled him.

He kept his response calm and even in order to keep Charlotte calm. "The fleet needs someplace to call home. Zack said as much and Colonel Kira has a few options, most of which will probably have to be voted on, but I wanted you to know what they are. Our people have the option of living on Earth or space stations with other humans, maintaining the status of Colonials and being regarded as another alien race, joining the United Federation of Planets, and living as a colony on a planet within Starfleet's jurisdiction."

Laura stopped pacing. "Why wasn't this mentioned before?"

"She said she had to go through certain channels before she could bring it up," he mentioned.

"I suppose every government has its bureaucratic rat wheel," she said dryly, looking beside the couch to pull up an infant seat that Bill had not noticed.

"Hamster wheel," he remarked, handing the baby back to Laura. She raised an eyebrow at him as she placed the baby in the infant seat, on the couch. He explained further. "I had a hamster when I was a kid. Bit me a lot. My point is that there was a wheel in its cage."

She snorted. "You always did like to get the last word in." Then she began laughing.

Bill watched her with concern. "It wasn't that funny."

"I know, but I can't stop," she gasped. Then the laughter turned to sobbing.

Without hesitation, he reached over and pulled her close to him. She latched onto his uniform as the sobs wracked her body. He rubbed her back as he had Charlotte's, letting her cry. She fought herself for control over her emotions as frustration bubbled out.

"I hate him! I hate him for doing this to me, to his family! Why wouldn't he let Julian put him in stasis? No, he had to go and complete his 'dying leader' status. And the worst part is that we can't even mourn him as a fleet because to them he's not dead! I hate you for agreeing to this scheme!" she snapped.

He held her tighter. "Then why did you want me to stay? I asked you about it."

Neither said a word for a while. Then she took a deep breath, slowly relaxing in his embrace as her tears stopped. "I'm sorry. I don't really hate you. I just don't know how to handle this," she paused and looked up to face him. "I don't know what to do with this."

I know exactly how you feel. "I think, under the circumstances, that it would be best if you and I had separate quarters. I could slip in and out at the right times, but you'd be allowed to mourn him properly."

She looked back up at him and sniffed. "Bill, I can't just ask you to-"

"I shouldn't be his replacement to you, at least not in that capacity. You just lost your husband. I would like to be your friend at least," he interjected.

A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "You'll always be more than that, which is part of why this is all so difficult."

"Hopefully in time we can straighten this out better," he added.

She nodded, extracting herself from his embrace to retrieve Charlotte. "I have to go. I need to track down Hannah."

"Kira said that she's probably at the gym," Bill mentioned.

"That sounds like her, probably showing off again," Laura mentioned with a smirk. Before leaving, she turned back to him. "Bill."

"Yes?" he said as he placed a hand on the door.

"Thank you," she told him.

He spent the night on Galactica, in what was sort of his own bed. In the morning he worked with Zack pack the rest of the boxes before they were transported to Laura's quarters. While Zack stayed to chat with Laura and Hannah, Bill walked off in search of Colonel Kira.

After looking at a map from the automated computer system, he found her in her office. "Is there something I can help you with, Admiral?"

He nodded. "With all that's been going on, I want to give Laura some space. Is there any way that the quarters next door would be vacant?"

Kira gestured for him to sit as she checked the logs on her computer. "Actually the quarters on both sides are empty. Due to our recent war with the Dominion, the station's not nearly as occupied as usual, so you're welcome to move into one of them."

"Thank you," he responded.

She looked at him, noticing the weariness. "You look like you could use some coffee."

"If it's not too much trouble," he stated.

Standing, she walked over to the replicator. "I'm going to introduce you to a racktajino."

He raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

She smirked. "It's Klingon coffee."

"Should I be worried?" he asked with a grin.

"Only if you've been drinking decaf," she replied.

After giving the device instructions, she reached into the replicator for a steaming dark green mug. She handed it to him and watched him smell it. "It doesn't smell lethal."

She chuckled. "It isn't. And I gave you the same thing I usually drink. With things like these, they need to be made just a little too hot to drink."

He blew over the top of it. "I never thought of it that way, but you're right. Most people like their beverages hotter than drinkable."

"I wish you could meet Odo. I've tried to explain coffee to him and it never quite works," she mentioned with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Who is Odo?" Bill inquired.

Kira folded her hands on her desk. "He's a changeling, but a good one. He was raised by a Bajoran scientist, Dr. Mora. Over time he and I became… close. He left us to teach his people what it meant to be human, and to cure them of a disease, but that's a longer story than either of us have time for today."

Maybe we understand each other better than I had first thought, he reasoned as he took a few sips of the coffee. His eyes shot open as he looked back at her. "Strong doesn't begin to describe this stuff. If their coffee's this strong, I'm willing to bet that their alcohol is too."

She smirked. "You're right about that."

He finished his coffee in silence, then set the cup on the desk. "Thank you, Colonel."

"You're welcome, Admiral," she stated. As he stood to leave, she walked him to the door. "If you need to talk to someone, I'll make time."

He smiled politely. "Thanks for the offer, but I've already taken up too much of your time."

"We have a councilor available too," Kira added.

"I don't need a shrink, but I appreciate the gesture," he responded.

"This shrink isn't like any other one you've met," the colonel explained as the admiral left.

He returned to Galactica to look check on the status of the Colonial Fleet. CIC welcomed him back with applause. "Thank you, but it's not necessary. We've got a fleet to protect, so let's keep our focus where it belongs," he told them.

As he read through the fleet reports, the DRADIS suddenly beeped. "Sir, four large unidentified vessels just appeared. They appear to be heavily armed and… cube-shaped," Dee told him.

"Get me Colonel Kira on the wireless," he told Dee.

She pushed a few buttons. "Connected, sir."

"Colonel, I think the Borg are here," he mentioned.

"Well aware of it, Admiral. I've already sent a transmission to the other Starfleet vessels. They should be here this time," she relayed.

Adama ran a hand through his hair, watching the DRADIS as the four cubes drew closer. I hope they've got that bomb we talked about, or we're all screwed.

(The comment Kira makes about the coffee being almost too hot to drink comes from a discussion she has with Odo, but I can't for the life of me remember which episode it is from).

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