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

Chapter 15: Luck

As the Borg cubes neared the fleet, Kira's voice crackled over the wireless. "Admiral, it might be better if you would just get your fleet out of here. The Borg have shields. You don't."

If only I hadn't read those frakking reports this morning. "Not possible, Colonel. The FTL drives on most of the ships are burned out, and that's the bare minimum of the repairs we need at the moment. What about that Plan B we talked about?"

There was a pause and he heard Laura's voice. "What Plan B is that?"

I'm not the only one who can't stay out of a battle. "Madame President, Colonel Kira should probably explain it to you."

Zack cleared his throat and Adama looked over his shoulder at the younger man. "You usually call her 'Laura.' 'Madame President' is reserved for when you two disagree on things," Zack whispered.

"Thanks," Adama whispered back.

Kira's voice crackled again. "Admiral, Plan B is having some technical difficulty with the release mechanism."

"I'd like to know what Plan B is also," Zack mentioned quietly.

Adama leaned closer. "I brought back a Cylon virus from my universe that affects the inorganic processing capabilities. We were planning to release it, along with an actual computer virus, to the Borg using a bomb."

"Sir, DRADIS shows at least thirty ships. They just appeared," Dee interrupted.

Kira spoke again. "Admiral, don't worry. They're on our side, and they have shields. They'll be acting as a buffer between your fleet and the Cylons while they fight."

"Noted. We should keep an open COMM," Adama stated.

"Agreed," Kira responded.

"Sir, I need a word with you," Zack told him.

He and the admiral headed over to the glass partition off to the side after letting Helo take charge for the moment. "If they're working with a bomb, I can help them. After my accident, I had to do something, so I studied ballistics."

Adama sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Zack, if I let you go and you get her, Laura will never let me hear the end of it." And I won't lose you twice.

"Dad, I can do this. I'll be on the station. The sooner I transport over there, the better," Zack argued. 'Dad' had rolled out too naturally, like my habit of using 'Madame President,' Bill reasoned.

"I know whatever you end up doing will probably involve more than fixing something. Have you thought about Kara? I don't want you taking unnecessary risks," Bill argued.

When Zack faced his father, Bill realized that Zack was taller by at least half a head. "Admiral, you've told me countless times that you have to put aside your own personal interests and put the Fleet first. I need to do this for the fleet, or we could all be screwed."

It figures that you would remind me what the priorities are. Bill reached for his right pocket and pulled out his father's lighter. He had placed it there that morning, intending to give it to Zack later. "Since I can't talk you out of it, I might as well give you your grandfather's lighter."

As he handed it to Zack, the younger man studied it. "Lee lost this during the Exodus from New Caprica."

"It's from your 'other' grandfather then," Bill added. "Good hunting, son."

Like Zack's 'Dad' comment, Bill's 'son' remark had slipped out. Zack looked back at him and smirked before putting the lighter in his pocket. "So say we all, sir."

Bill nodded. "So say we all."

They headed back to the center of CIC. "Colonel, I'm sending over Captain Adama to help you with Plan B."

"Alright, sir. We'll lock onto him now," Kira stated before a shimmering blue haze surrounded Zack.

Adama looked back at the DRADIS after Zack had disappeared. After Kira confirmed that Zack had safely transported over, the admiral sighed, pacing slightly. He stopped, leaning forward with his hands in front of him. Helo approached him. "Sir, would you like your chair?"

Remembering that he had a role to play, Adama nodded and soon found himself in the awkward position of watching a battle while sitting. For a soldier to be a bystander, why is it that every time something important happens, I'm stuck on the sidelines? I'll have to speak with Kira about shields when this is over. He lightly drummed his fingers on his console before remembering that the COMM was still open. "Laura, if you're there with the Colonel, where is Hannah, and who's watching the baby?" He knew that Hannah was capable of managing herself, but felt the need to ask anyway.

"She's fine, Bill. I left her and Charlotte with Ezri Dax. Everyone's alright over here," she reassured him. He would have asked whom she was referring to, but thought better of it to maintain their current ruse.

Watching the DRADIS as well as the viewscreen, he could tell that the Borg were certainly a problem. What exactly provoked them to take an interest in this part of the galaxy he was not sure of. I'll have to ask Kira about that later. More Federation ships have joined, but the Borg weapons look like they're doing more damage.

Dee interrupted his thoughts. "Sir, the hanger bay just called. Athena and Boomer have been beamed off the deck."

If they get captured, humanity is doomed. "Colonel, we've got a problem. My two Cylon pilots have been beamed-"

"Onto the station. Sorry to worry you. We realized that the Borg could beam them off of your ship because you don't have shields, so we beamed them over here ," Kira explained.

Adama let out a breath he did not know he was holding. They're going to kill me one way or another. "Thank you, Colonel."

"This should be over soon if our plan-"

"He did what! How could you let him do that?" Laura's demand interrupted Kira.

"He must've transported over there to the cube at the same time we beamed the Cylons aboard," Kira's voice answered.

"Can you lock onto his signal and bring him back?" Laura requested.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. He'll have to set the bomb at that exact location, which is shielded from our transporters. Then he has to run back to the point he beamed in from-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt this, ladies, but what is going on?" Adama asked evenly.

"Sir, Captain Adama has transported himself onboard one of the cubes to ensure that Plan B works," Kira relayed.

For the first time that day, Adama was glad that he was sitting down. "How will you get him back?"

"We were just discussing that, sir. It's up to him at this point," she responded.

He clenched a fist. I told him not to take risks. What does he think he's doing? Why didn't he just- Laura interrupted his thoughts this time. "Bill, if we can't get him back-"

"No. He will come back," were Adama's final words on the matter.

Shortly one cube began to collapse from what looked like the inside out, as if imploding. The other three cubes followed suit, as if the first had been a ripple in a pond. The Federation ships moved back. The Colonial Fleet rocked with the shockwave of the explosions. Adama waited to hear the COMM again, his only thought being what do I tell Kara?

"We've got him, sir. Captain Adama is fine and we'll return him to you soon," Kira informed him.

He sighed with relief. "Do you know if there'll be any more Borg ships?"

"We don't know the full extent of Plan B, but at least we can be certain that they'll leave us alone for a while," the colonel explained.

After Zack beamed back over, Adama let Helo take the next shift. Upon entering his quarters, Adama poured himself a glass of water. He was not sure whom to expect when he heard a knock at the hatch again. Must be the most popular door on the ship, he mused. Kara stood on the other side.

"Starbuck, would you like to come in?" he asked politely.

"Yes, sir," she answered simply.

"Water?" he offered. She nodded and he handed her a glass. As she finished it, she watched him for a moment.

"Sir, Zack told me what you said, and showed me the lighter. I… owe you an apology for the other day. I still don't like the idea, but I know you're not here to hurt us," she told him.

He nodded. "Thank you." As she set her empty glass down on his desk, she lingered for a moment. "Was there something else?" he asked her.

She looked back at him. "Say it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"You know," she commented.

Thinking for a moment, he realized what she was looking for. "What do you hear, Starbuck?"

"Nothing but the rain, sir," she replied.

He smiled. "Then grab your gun and bring in the cat." She smirked and then left. Well, at least she doesn't flat-out hate me, he reasoned.

During the next week, the Quorum voted that the Colonials would remain their own nation, but if some wanted to live on Earth or on the space station, they were allowed to. It was decided that the majority would live as a colony state on a nearby M-class planet. The admiral and the president alternated their time between helping the Colonials settle and working out new systems of infrastructure from the space station.

The problem was that Bill and Laura continued to slide back into hold habits. Of those habits, each would respond as they had with their previous partners, only to find that the person in front of them was looking for something different. What Laura thought was Bill's favorite food was something that this Bill would not eat. Bill continued to make similar mistakes with Laura.

Hannah went to two baseball games while Bill and Laura were busy. During the second ball game though, as Laura dealt with the Quorum, Bill was watching Charlotte while he read through his reports. As Hannah came back to the quarters on DS9 from the second game, Bill had a few questions.

"Where is this baseball game?" he inquired.

"In the holosuit. It's a holographic thing. You've gotta see it sometime," she mentioned with a grin.

He nodded. "Sounds interesting. I have to ask you something that I feel I should've asked sooner. What exactly is Jake Sisko to you?"

She smirked, watching Bill in dad-mode. "You worry too much. He's like a big brother, that's all. I promise it's nothing more than that."

"I had to ask," he stated.

Hannah sat next to him on the couch. "Mom's ticked at you again."

He nodded slowly. "I know."

"What did you do?" she probed.

"I don't know. Every time I try to fix things, I just keep making it worse. I've given her space. I've tried not to call her 'Madame President' so much. I'm here babysitting," he said.

"You'll figure something out," she reasoned.

He raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"

She shrugged, smiling. "You're good at figuring things out."

The next morning he had decided to try something different. It had only been for coffee. Bill wanted to share a moment with Laura over a cup of coffee on the Promenade. However, he had ordered for her. "She'll have two sugars and a small bit of cream."

Across the small round table she stared at him, wide-eyed. Then she turned back to the waiter. "Scratch that please. I would like some of that strawberry syrup in my coffee." When the waiter had left, she looked over at Bill. "What were you thinking, ordering my coffee for me?"

He put his hands up in defense. "I'm sorry. I was just remembering how my Laura liked her coffee," he said quietly.

She said nothing until her coffee arrived. "Look, I've got a meeting in half an hour. I had better go."

Bill sighed as Laura walked away, taking the coffee with her. As he turned back to his own coffee, he noticed a pixie-like, dark-haired woman watching him from across the room. She neared him and he noticed that she wore the same gray uniform with blue stripes at the shoulders like Dr. Bashir. However, across her forehead and down the sides of her face were a series of dark markings.

"That's quite a tattoo you've got there, ma'am," he told her.

She smirked and placed a hand on the back of the chair opposite his. "I'm Lieutenant Ezri Dax. May I join you?"

He shrugged. "I suppose."

"Thank you. I'm a Trill, by the way. That's what the markings are from," she mentioned.

Folding his hands, he faced her. Then his eyes widened at a sudden realization. "You introduced yourself to me. I take it you know who I am then."

She smiled politely. "You're Admiral Adama from the other universe. Let's just say I'm well acquainted with Julian- I mean Dr. Bashir, and Jake. They like to keep me updated."

He glanced around, relieved that they had not drawn an audience. "I hope you understand if I ask you to keep what you know to yourself then."

"That's not a problem. I get that in my line of work all the time," she replied. Then she also glanced around the room. "Do you mind if we take a walk?"

He stood and they wandered onto the upper deck of the Promenade. As they passed by a window, Adama turned toward her. "What can I do for you?"

To his surprise, she giggled. "You really have no idea what I'm here for, do you? I'm sorry. I never meant to be so secretive. I'm a guidance counselor, so I should be asking what I can do for you."

So this is the shrink that Colonel Kira mentioned. Sighing heavily, he folded his hands in front of him. "No offence, but I don't feel much like having my head analyzed."

"I wasn't going to analyze anything. I was hoping you'd let me talk," she explained.

He raised an eyebrow. "You want my advice on life?"

She shook her head. "No, I want to share something with you."

"Alright," he sighed.

Taking a deep breath, she spoke without meeting his eyes. "The thing about being a Trill is that several of us are hosts. My surname of 'Dax' is actually the name of my symbiot. It's a wormlike creature that retains the memories and personalities of its previous hosts. You see, I'm the ninth host to the Dax symbiot. It means that I was implanted with the symbiot."

"Is that unique to alien species?" Adama asked.

She nodded. "The trouble is that the feelings of the previous host are there too."

"I don't mean to be rude, but why are you telling me all this?" he probed.

She met his gaze. "I've noticed the distance between you and Laura. No, she hasn't said anything to me, and no, I'm sure no one else has noticed. I'm just good at watching people. When I first became joined, that's what it's called when a Trill receives a symbiot, I came back to Deep Space Nine, where the last host, Jadzia, had lived. It was hard, partly for me because I had to get used to dealing with eight other lifetimes in my head."

"Don't they train you for something like that?" Adama inquired.

Ezri nodded again. "I wasn't supposed to be joined. Jadzia had died and the symbiot just happened to be in the same shuttle as me when it took a turn for the worst. I was the only way to save it. Figuring out eight other lifetimes wasn't my biggest problem though. Everyone who knew Jadzia was angry with me because I wasn't her, but I had her memories. The hardest person was Worf, her husband."

Now I understand. She thinks she can counsel me through her experience. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but my situation is a bit different."

She sighed, crossing her arms. "My point is that it's uncomfortable, walking around in someone else's shadow. Of course it is, but I mean metaphorically. What the people I now call my friends did with me was learn to appreciate the differences instead of always comparing me to her. You and Laura need to appreciate the differences between your other selves. I'm sorry if I've stepped over the line."

No, you hit the mark. I've been comparing her to my Laura and it hasn't been fair to her. "You haven't overstepped anything. I spoke too quickly. Thank you for the advice."

(My thanks to Idellis65, Mamabella, McGonagallFan, Mariel3, and carolann for reviewing :D)