"You have been cordial towards me all of this time and now...what has changed?" Gaius Baltar sits in a room, the only exit flanked by large cylon centurions, "I have done nothing except help you in your pursuits." He calls to no one in particular, "Why isn't anyone listening to me?"
"Gaius, do you honestly believe they care?" A voice from behind him answers gently, "A thousand times smarter than any one of them and they've stuck you here. A sin really."
He turns, seeing the woman in the red dress that he's become so accustomed to, "Yes...tell them. Aren't you able to communicate with them? Tell them how much I'm able to help them."
"The problem, Gaius, is that you want to be one of them and they're able to see that." The Six in the red dress coddles him, "Now, you should just have a seat...relax. Your surroundings aren't terrible...much better than anything on the Galactica...or New Caprica."
Baltar stares toward her, no longer bothering to shield himself from her, "I am not a common prisoner."
"No...you are not." She smiles some, "You're much more than that." Rising from her place on the single sofa, she gently takes his hand.
"I do not want her kept in the prison. There isn't any information she's going to give us that she hasn't already." Gaius Balter rested at his desk, eyes watery with fear of what's to come, "Please...it's the least I can do for her...the child...I'm sure you all care about her child. He needs his mother."
"Laura Roslin? Well...we have things in store for her." The One model smirked toward him, truly amused.
"Don't touch her. Please, I beg of you. I've let you take over this world-"
"Let us?" He stands, side by side with his brother of the same model number, "You haven't let us do anything. We don't need your permission."
The tired man swallowed, tears were a constant thing that remained in his eyes, "Please. She has no more information than anyone else."
"My, my. You really are quite stupid, aren't you, Doctor Baltar?" The elder appearing man moved closer to him, "She has all of the answers." He shrugged, "However, I'm feeling generous. This one thing, Mister President. This one thing, we will let you have."
Laura's feet tangle over the edge of the hospital cot. This has to be the cancer, she thinks. She always thinks that though. No matter the source of pain, even something as trivial as a headache. However, she usually just shrugs it off and accepts her fate. "This is all silly, you know." She mumbles to the young man in the room with her.
"Can never be too cautious." Lee folds his arms, watching her, "It helps my peace of mind."
"There are so many other important things I must attend to though, Lee. There's a thing going around the outer fleet. I saw the report yesterday. It was only a matter of time before it ventured here."
"Laura, you were doubled over in pain...retching up nothing. I mean...you kept trying and trying, but nothing. You were in tears. There has to be something wrong and I'm going to make sure we catch it now, rather than later."
Her eyes meet his, "You're afraid it's cancer."
"I didn't say that." Lee picked his hand up as if to stop her.
"You didn't have to." Laura swallows, "I always do."
He watches her a moment, knowing a million thoughts are running through her head, "I'm sorry." He touches her hand softly, "We're going to figure out what's going on, okay? I'm sure the tests will bring back something concrete. Something...anything. Cottle will make sure of it."
"Speaking about me already?" Sherman Cottle glances between the two.
Laura smiles gently, "Doctor Cottle, it's been..."
"Oh, shut it, young lady." He waves her off, a slight blush colors his cheeks, "Listen, all the tests came back negative. All of them. Even the scan."
"See?" Lee tries, motioning to her, then quickly snapping his head back to the man, "Wait, what? How?"
"I don't know what happened. Maybe something you ate." Cottle nods, "Never know. Might even be space sick. The human body is a crazy thing." He turns his head when his assistant peeks her head through the curtain, telling the Adama that he is needed in CIC. As they watch the young man excuse himself, Cottle turns back to Laura, "Glad he's gone."
"Not nice." Laura folds her arms, amused.
"Listen, you still have cylon antibodies in your veins. First from the transfusion, then your pregnancy kept them there. Tell me exactly what happened last night."
"Nothing happened." She answers quietly, not believing the antibodies to still be an issue, "If I still have those antibodies, does that mean-"
"It means nothing. They're just antibodies. They aren't bad, they aren't anything." He shakes his head, "It doesn't appear they're affecting your health in any way, but I need to know what you experienced."
Laura swallows, "Just...pain. Stomach pain. A great deal of it."
"Do you feel it now?"
The woman slowly shakes her head, "I was in pain, then it suddenly stopped after a few hours."
"Burning pain, aching pain, what kind of pain?" Cottle holds a light up to her eyes, checking for dilation as well as anything else he could possibly see in the back of her eye. He nods, then motions for her to lie back.
"A heaviness." Laura swallows, her eyes focusing on the ceiling, "I can't explain it."
He nods, using his cold hands to gently push against the skin of her abdomen and hip region before motioning for her to sit back up.
The woman trembles slightly as silence fills the space, "Well?"
Cottle sighs heavily, "I can't find a damn thing wrong with you."
"How is that-" Laura tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, "Are you positive?"
"Yeah...tests are clean. I don't know what to tell ya, young lady."
Laura watched Maya interact with Isis. The young woman had always taken such amazing care of the girl, a difficult thing to do in her premature state when she acquired her. However, it was always as if Isis simply tolerated her as opposed to reciprocating the emotions. She loved her, of that Laura was certain, but Isis could feel the bond the blood transfusion caused months prior.
Maya lifted her head, finally seeing her friend close by, "She loves you more than me, you know."
"Well, hello to you too." She offered the younger woman a sympathetic smile, sitting next to her on the cot, "You are her mother. She loves her mother most. I'm just...a glass of sweet wine after a hard day's work. Tantalizing for a few moments, but not a constant comfort."
"Such a way with words."
Laura shrugged, reaching a hand out for the baby to grasp onto a finger. "She'll come around. She's yours Maya. No one is ever going to change that. You will always be her mother."
"Sure, as long as you're nearby." Maya lifted the few months old babe to her chest, "She's quiet unless you're nearby. She...there's just something about you that relaxes her more, I think."
"Quiet is okay. In ancient Kobol scriptures, the quiet ones are said to be the ones who hold great intelligence." She nodded, folding her arms across her chest. "We don't have any sort of bond or anything. I'm just her aunt. Nothing more."
"That isn't what it feels like."
"She's a child, I'm a teacher. I can't think of much more than that." Laura tilted her head to the side, reaching a hand out to stroke the baby's hair, "She's beautiful and incredibly lucky to have you. I wish you'd understand that." Of course Isis would feel a bond with her, the same blood was running through their veins. "Just like I'm lucky to be a part of this life that you've made with her. I mean that."
Maya sheepishly smiled, "I'm being ridiculous, aren't I?"
"Just a little bit, but it's understandable. I swear."
"Listen to me, Doctor Baltar, there is something wrong with the baby. Her...her belly is so hard. She cries any time it's touched. There must be something you can do." The cylon, known as Caprica aboard the ship, pleads to the man, hoping to be out of earshot of the others, "I know you're a scientist, but...you've studied the human body, haven't you?"
Baltar furrows his brow, "If I go back to the Galactica, I will be killed. Do you understand that?"
"And if we don't, she'll die. Another innocent child, Gaius." She swallows, "I saved your life once. Why not try to save the life of another?"
"I did. I saved Laura Roslin."
"With the blood of the child. This child. What about her turn for protection?" Caprica shakes her head, "Please."
He stares toward her, this was not the same one as the figure in his head. However, she was incredibly alike. "You're the one that saved me, correct?" She doesn't answer him, not that he thought she would. "I will go. I will...I will face judgement. We can't outwardly tell the humans that we have her. You must find her mother. Her actual mother."
"A mother will go to any ends to protect her child." When he nods, she continues, "You will give your life for her." Caprica's voice is small, this man she's loved since before the exodus, "That's incredibly brave of you, Doctor Baltar."
"Isn't she adorable? So conflicted. So ridiculous." Another vision of her runs a hand along his back.
Gaius can tell that the Six model in front of him, couldn't see the one behind him, she was in his head, "It's the very least I can do." He nods, "Now, if you may excuse me, I must dress before-"
"Of course." She meets his eyes again, smiling to him once more before walking away.