Laura sighs as she watches the Geminese priestess leave, smoothing a hand over her stomach trying to settle the two babies rolling around within. She hadn't mentioned to Bill that she'd been talking to Elosha, and she was wondering when it was going to come back to bite her in the ass.
The leader will guide the vestiges of humanity to their new homeland. She will bear the two that are one, the sun and the moon, destined to lead the new homeland into the new era.
Laura locks eyes with Billy as the cuffs clip around her wrists.
"I've got this. Get to Mona. Aurora does not come to the brig," She instructs before the marines start to guide her out. Laura dutifully takes a seat in the raptor, stealing a reproachful glance at Saul before staring straight ahead.
She thinks to herself they had managed to make it a month and a half before any serious incident. That wasn't too bad considering she was afraid they were done for the first night. And the brig wasn't an airlock. Laura closes her eyes and leans her head back, her mind filled with what she was billing as their last moments also coincidentally the first time they'd had a proper frak since they had started their drift through space.
Bill had been sweaty and tousled after a sparring session with the boys, a primal look in his eyes as he took her firmly by the hips and lead her to his rack. Laura could feel his rough fingertips running over her skin, bringing her to the edge with a firm stroke, his lips and tongue soothing bites his teeth had left behind. She remembers the tears that had filled her eyes as he had filled her, their hips moving together in a slow lazy rhythm. At the time the sadness had seemed strange to her. Now she recognized it as mourning for a loss that hadn't even happened yet.
Laura's eyes snap open as they settle on Galactica, standing a few moments later once their raptor is taken below deck. The marines guide her off board to a silent flight deck, everyone pausing in their work and quietly staring. Laura lifts her chin as Zak strides over his fists clenched at his side.
"What did you do?" Zak seethes. Laura stares the boy down as she stands in front of him.
"I am saving us. Kara is saving us."
"My wife is on a planet that was nuked by frakking toasters!" Zak yells.
"She will come back," Laura tells him, keeping her voice even, "You know I wouldn't have asked her if I didn't think she could do it."
Saul backs Zak out of the way before the marines continue to guide Laura to the brig. Laura stands off to the side, rubbing her wrists slightly as her cuffs are removed, eyeballing Saul for a few moments before the hatch opens and Bill walks in. He glances at her momentarily before looking at the marine that was staffing the jail cells.
"Open the cell," Bill commands quietly, holding a directional hand out for Laura before commanding that the cell be closed once she's inside. The two share a look before Bill turns heel without another word and heads for the CIC with his XO.
It was less than an hour later that Lee was brought in, covered in blood, and shoved into the cell next to her. Laura moves to the wall dividing their spaces, a concerned look on her face.
"Lee what's going on, what did they do to you?"
"Dad got shot," Lee manages to get out before yelling, requesting that his restraints are removed. Laura jumps at his outburst before leaning against the bars for support as she feels her heart start to race. What had she done?
"Lee, tell me what happened. How bad is it?"
"Ah…two shots to the chest…it's bad," Lee tells her, his voice choked, as he sinks down on the small rack.
"What…is Doctor Cottle with him?"
"Cottle's not on board." Laura sinks down onto her own rack and buries her face in her hands.
"Oh gods…" She whimpers quietly.
"Open the door. I don't want to be shot like some rat in a cage. Open the door now!" Laura barks at the marine that was guarding her. She slips out of the cell as Lee and his group come in. She wraps her arms around her son and hugs him tight before letting him go.
"What's going on?"
"We've been boarded. You need to get out of here. Life Station is going to be the best bet, it's meant to function as a disaster shelter," Lee explains. He takes one of his side arms and hands it to Billy before taking the other and holding it out to Laura. Laura curls her hand around the weapon before racking the slide and holding it by her side.
"Where are you going?"
"Towards the gun fire," Lee tells her before leaving. Laura follows behind the marine with Billy behind her as they navigate the halls towards Life Station. Laura sighs as they walk, having to re-navigate their path a few times before they're trapped in a causeway. She yelps as Billy shoves her out of the way of the cylon gun fire, only daring to sit up when she hears the hall go quiet. The marine touches her back as he approaches them.
"Madame President, are you okay?" Laura nods as she pushes herself up, wincing slightly from being slammed around. She notices the two holes in her jacket as the marine points them out.
"The gods must be watching over you." The group finishes their trek to Life Station, meeting up once again with Lee. Laura's feet immediately carry her to her husband's side, covering her mouth with her hand as she takes in the scene before her. She gently takes his hand and strokes his knuckles gently before looking at Lee after Saul tells them that Cottle was on his way.
"He's going to be okay," She murmurs, looking over at her son, "You know he's strong enough to beat this."
"I know," Lee nods. Laura releases Bill's hand and rounds the table, kissing Lee's cheek.
"Stay with him, as long as you can," She whispers in his ear, clutching his hand for a moment before leaving to return to the brig.
Laura groans as she cradles her head in her hands, a fierce headache settling behind her eyes. She tries to block the light out, focus on something, anything besides the pain rolling through her head.
"Madame President…" Billy calls quietly, holding a bottle through the bars and shaking it gently to jostle the pills inside. Laura looks up, wincing as the light flares in her eyes. She stands on shaky legs and takes the pills from Billy.
"Thank gods," She says as she pops open the bottle, taking two of the white tablets before sitting back down.
"Colonel Tigh is going to be bringing the Quorum down at some point…" Billy warns her, "Is there anything else I can get you?"
"No, I'll be fine," Laura assures him, laying down to take a nap. She dozes for an hour and wakes up without a trace of her earlier migraine or shakiness. She sits up and runs her fingers through her hair, looking up as Saul herds the Quorum into the room. She bites back at his derogatory comments at her, explaining everything she could to the Quorum members, seeing that her claims were particularly interesting to the delegate from Geminon.
"The scriptures say that the leader will guide us to the new homeland…that she will bear the two that are one, the sun and the moon and they will herald the homeland into the new era," The delegate explains. Laura nods, swallowing as she unbuttons her jacket to expose her stomach, resting her hand against the curve of it.
"I am pregnant, with twins, identical twins…two that are one," Laura explains.
Laura swallows as she watches the delegates kneel, taking the few hands she could before Saul commands the marines to force them out. She takes a seat on her rack and sighs as she casts a worried glance at Billy.
Later in the evening, Laura sits with her back against the bars talking to Lee, getting the few bits of information he could give her. After a lull in the conversation Laura sighs and turns her head to the side, away from their security.
"We need to get out of here," Laura whispers.
"I'm working on it," Lee assures her.
"We have to take Billy and Elosha. Mona needs to know what's happening, she needs to keep Aurora out of the way."
"I know," Lee assures her. Laura reaches back, offering part of her cookie to him.
"Thank you," Laura tells him.
"Adama's stick together," Lee replies as he takes a piece.
[TBC]
