Sorry it took so long. I've been having problems with fanfic…Thanks for all the reviews!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em…
Bill wasn't sure what he expected to see when the Raptor from Colonial One boarded his ship but the sight he met with was beyond anything he could have possibly imagined. Only thirty minutes ago he received a call from Lt. Geata telling him Colonial One was being evacuated due to dangerous toxins. Adama woke quickly, as quickly as he would have in any crisis situation, he told himself, whether or not in involved Laura.
Together the Admiral, Tigh and Geata worked out a make shift evacuation plan, sending some of the passengers on Colonial One to the Rising Star and Astrel Queen and the others to Galactica herself. Then, Adama made himself presentable and hurried down to the hanger deck to greet Roslin and the other high ranking personnel in her entourage.
The first thing his eyes greeted, however, was not Tory, Helo, Sharon, or even Laura herself. No, what Bill greeted was legs. Lots and lots of legs. Legs that went on for miles and miles. Legs that he, until now, had not come to fully appreciate. Bill was so preoccupied with the lovely perfect expanse before him that as he followed the legs upward he was shocked to discover they disappeared behind a slinky blue nightgown. His eyes continued to travel upward and the rest of the nightgown was covered by an oversized black jacket. The sleeves of the jacket were too long for the wearer and only a few slender fingers poked out. The jacket, the fingers, the nightgown, and the legs…legs…all belong to someone who had Laura Roslin's face.
From the expression on said face she no doubt was aware of his unabashed ogling. He felt his face burning with shame and he looked to the people around him. Tigh was too busy glaring at Tory to notice and Tory only seemed half awake. Sharon and Helo, however, were fully aware of what was happening, but, like the respectful soldiers they were they pretended not to notice. Bill cursed his roving eyes.
"Take a picture, Admiral, it lasts longer," she greeted, her tone as Presidential as he had ever heard it.
It was like she was trying to make up for her casual appearance by doubling the professionalism in her voice. Despite her professionalism there was a hint of mischief in her eyes. Unfortunately, Bill was too busy trying to forget her legs to appreciate her efforts at decorum or mischief.
"Madame President, I…I'm," he said, clearing his throat which had tightened up on him.
Bill watched her eyes widened in amusement as he tripped over his own words.
Finally he wrapped his head around the task at hand but not before seeing Sharon and Helo exchange smirks and head back toward the Raptor.
"Are you alright? What happened?" He questioned managing to regain some dignity.
"They don't know yet. The marines are on board right now, trying to vent the gas into space. They said it might take a few days for Colonial One to be safe to board again but they think they got everyone out," Laura explained as Bill walked with her back toward the hallway.
"Do they know yet what caused the leak?" he questioned.
Tigh and Tory had fallen behind them in a silent march. Adama thought they were both acting strangely.
"If you mean, was it an accident or sabotage, no, we won't know until they comb the ship," Laura replied.
"I think you and the rest of your staff better stay on Galactica, until we know for sure. There is less chance of a security breach here," Adama reasoned.
Laura nodded her head and turned to look back at the other passengers exiting the Raptor.
"Helo and Athena will take them to the officers quarters and mess hall," Adama began, "it may be cramped but it will have to do for now."
"I think I'll take you up on your earlier offer," Laura said, with a hiding meaning dancing in her expression.
Bill knew exactly what she was talking about. A conversation from what seemed like ages ago when he had offered her access to his beds on Galactica.
"Tigh, are there any empty quarters on the upper decks?" Adama asked the XO, not losing eye contact with Roslin as she smiled and finally looked at the floor. For a brief moment he followed her eyes downward and then suddenly remembered why he hadn't been looking down there. Legs…
"We're full up Admiral," Tigh replied, "I'll put up Tory for the night, you can have the President."
Bill was sure his eyes were almost as wide as the saucers staring back at him from Laura, whose head suddenly jerked up. Bill shot Tigh a look and his XO seemed to not catch the implication of the words until both the Admiral and President where staring him down. A smile twitched at the thin line of Tigh's lips.
"Oh, give me a frakking break," he growled, "Are you two twelve years old? I didn't mean it like that."
"That's how rumors get started," Tory finally chimed in, scolding Tigh.
"The frakking press better not start rumors about you and me or I'll have them all court-martialed," Tigh said as he shoved Tory toward the door.
Tory yelped in protested and the two of them disappeared down the corridor.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Laura asked with a lifted eyebrow.
"Do you think he will?" Bill returned.
Laura made a face at him and he gestured for her to go first. From behind he could get another look at her legs without having to be coy. Bill was glad that the corridors of Galactica were mostly deserted because, really, there wasn't much to Laura's nightgown and she was quit a spectacle prancing down the hallway barefoot.
The walk to his quarters was spent in silence. He felt the lack of sleep getting to him. It was three in the morning and he had a long day ahead of him in the CIC.
Starbuck was doing laps around the hallway and Adama saw her coming from a mile away. Of all the people to be up at this time, of course, of course Starbuck would have to come upon them. As her face came into focus he could see the amusement and downright bawdy grin she wore.
She jogged in place for a few minutes in front of them, eyed the President from head to foot, looked at the Admiral and cocked her head to the side.
"You know, I'm not even going to say it, old man. Some things are just too obvious even for me," she said, smiled, flippantly saluted and continued her jog.
Bill felt himself blushing again and hated it because he usually wasn't so easily flustered. Women normally didn't have this affect on him. He was married for fourteen years of his life after all. It's not like relationships or women were new to him, so why the frak did he turn red and squirmy around Roslin?
Instead of blushing, Laura started giggling and continued to giggle until they reached the hatch to Bill's quarters. He wasn't laughing and when he reached out to open the hatch Laura caught his attention.
"Oh, come on Bill, that was funny, you have to admit," she said, her eyes glittering under the white light from above.
"Don't encourage her," Bill advised, "she only gets worse. I'll have a talk with her about it tomorrow."
Laura continued to smile as she stepped into the sanctuary of his quarters. Seeing Laura in the middle of his living room in dim light at three in the morning in nothing but her nightgown caused Bill to think of some things he probably shouldn't have been thinking. This time, at least, he didn't squirm.
"Can I get you anything?" he asked, as he began to unbutton his uniform.
"Yes, a glass of water, please," Laura said.
Her body was half angled toward the bedroom and half toward the couch as if she didn't know which way to go. Bill watched her and then averted his gaze when it became transfixed again. He poured two glasses of water and handed her one of them.
"Thank you," she said and took a large gulp.
He couldn't help thinking she looked like she needed something stronger, whether due to the night she had or the present situation he didn't know.
"You can have the bed," Adama said, "I'll take the sofa."
Laura smiled a little sadly. There was something about that smile. Laura was one of the few women who could make a smile look sad. He wasn't sure exactly what made it sad but sometimes it went straight to his heart.
"I'm sorry to put you out, Bill," she said, "Thank you for being a gentleman."
If you knew what I was thinking right now you wouldn't call me a gentleman, Bill thought to himself as he took a large gulp of water.
"Not at all," he replied.
They stood facing each other in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Finally, Laura yawned.
"You should get some rest," he said, suddenly remembering her health issues.
"I had Geata get you some clothes from the gym," Bill explained, "They aren't the most flattering but they are clean."
Laura narrowed her eyes and walked over to the desk. She picked up the grey sweater and navy sweat pants.
"You knew I would stay here tonight," she said with a lifted eyebrow.
Bill wasn't sure if she was asking him or saying a fact out loud.
"Where else would you stay?" He retorted.
She smiled her sad smile again, like she was waiting for something that would never come. He followed her with his eyes as she walked across the room. Before entering his bedroom she stopped in the breezeway pulling the jacket tighter around her.
"I think…tomorrow I should find somewhere else to stay," she began. Adama could tell she was choosing her words carefully.
"This is a dangerous situation."
She looked him directly in the eyes when she said the last part and his heart started pounding in his ears.
"…because of what Tigh said. Because of the press," he added for her, and for his own piece of mind.
She had to be talking about the press…she couldn't be talking about…
"Hmm…? Oh, yes, the press," she agreed and disappeared into the bedroom.
Well, his piece of mind was not satisfied and all night long he kept playing the conversation over and over again in his head. He analyzed every little thing she said, the way she said it, her tone, her inflection, the tilt of her head, the color of her eyes, everything and anything that might tell him what she meant.
Thanks to Laura Roslin, in the past week, he had endured two sleepless nights with thoughts of her…and…her…legs… He smiled and finally drifted off to sleep.
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Someone was calling her 'dad' and nudging her shoulder. When Laura rolled over she opened her eyes and squinted through the blackness. A dark shadow was hovering over her again, and this time she panicked because she couldn't see who it was.
"Who's there?" she whispered forcefully.
The figure stumbled backwards and tripped over a chair making a loud crashing noise that echoed throughout the room.
"What the frak? Madame President?" Lee voice whispered back.
There really was no point in whispering because the noise he caused woke Bill up. The lights came on and Laura squinted at the sudden brightness. Lee was lying on the floor, his leg hanging over the seat of the fallen chair. Adama was standing over him in his tanks and, Laura saw, with a stifled sigh of relief, his pants where on.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Adama asked his son.
His tone was gruff but he extended his hand to help Lee up. Apollo stood and after looking at Laura turned back to his father.
"Maybe I should ask you the same thing," he challenged.
Bill didn't answer immediately much to Laura's amusement. Apollo bent over and picked up the fallen chair putting it back where it belonged. Then Bill did something that greatly surprised Laura. He winked at her. Winked at her and then his expression went stone. She titled her head curiously, wondering what he was up to.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Bill demanded.
Of all the things she had ever seen in her life perhaps one of the funniest was the look on Lee Adama's face at that moment. In one clever stroke Bill had managed to make the night of sleeplessness worth it. Lee was beyond shocked. Crimson was dull a color to describe the shade his face turned. Apollo looked at Laura, in her nightgown, in his father's bed, and drew conclusions that Laura knew made him blush even more, if it were possible.
"Ah…I…don't…know?" he tried feebly to save face.
Laura couldn't take it anymore, she burst into laughter, not giggles, but hard stomach cramping laughter. Bill was soon joining her and between her gasps for air she could see him wiping away tears of laughter from his eyes. Laura was doubled over in bed and Bill was leaning against the wall for support. Apollo stood their rigidly and from the look on his face he seemed to realize he was the butt of a joke he didn't understand.
"Okay, very funny. I don't get it…" Lee said in a small humble voice.
Bill stopped laughing enough to finally speak.
"There was an emergency on Colonial One. All passengers had to be evacuated. There wasn't enough room below deck so Laura is staying here. Tory is down the hall with Tigh in his quarters," Bill explained.
Laura saw the comprehension, and relief, settle onto Lee's features.
"And probably getting some sleep, too. I'm sorry Apollo; we were having a bit of fun with you. Why are you here exactly?" Laura questioned, glancing at the clock. It was ten after four in the morning.
"Because, below deck, I gave up my rack to a family of refugees," he said, "I assume they were from Colonial One. I thought I'd come up here and snag your couch."
"Sorry. It's taken," Bill said, and gestured toward the couch as if to confirm to Lee he was indeed sleeping there and not trying to cover anything up.
For as hard as she laughed she was a little anxious about Lee's reaction to what he thought had happened. Not, Laura thought to herself, that 'it' ever would happen, but if 'it' did, apparently, Lee Adama wouldn't be pleased.
"There is a cot and some blankets in the closet," Adama offered.
"Oh, no, that's okay…I'll just go bother…someone else," Lee said as he started backing into the wall while looking at Laura.
She obviously made him very uncomfortable in her present state.
"Don't be a frakking moron. It's four a.m., here," Adama said and shoved the make shift bed into his arms.
Lee submitted to his father and before backing out of the room nodded to Laura.
"Madame President," he said, which sounded very awkward given the situation.
"See you in two hours," Bill said with apology written all over his face.
Laura smiled and sunk back into the soft pillows on Bill's bed.
As corny as it sounded, Laura really did sleep better in Bill's bed. It smelled like him. The warm blankets around her gave her a feeling of safety. Just knowing that Bill slept here night after night and that again tomorrow he would be sleeping here sent chills running down her spine.
For the first time since that night on New Caprica Laura Roslin allowed herself a moment of weakness. She decided to think about how she felt about Bill, to open the can of worms, so to speak. When she did a feeling of joy and excitement and fear and a dozen other emotions she couldn't name sent an electric current through her entire being.
Oh, damn. Her eyes popped open and she inhaled quickly. Suddenly, she knew what 'it' was. 'It' was love. Damn, damn, damn. As quickly as she opened that can of worms she closed it again. This was a very bad thing. This was why she hadn't allowed herself to really think much about the situation.
She liked to flirt with Bill, but she had never taken the flirting seriously. Simply because of that fact. 'It' was serious. Tomorrow she would pretend like she never thought about this. Tomorrow she would forget all about the fact that 'it' was love. 'It' would be back to 'it' again. But…for now, right now, in Bill Adama's bed…'it' was love.