Laura looks up at Bill after Lee and Helo leave. She takes her glasses off and sets them on the desk with a soft sigh.

"I think I would like to talk to Athena before I make any decisions about biological warfare," Laura requests, looking up at Bill.

"I can have her brought over in the morning," Bill offers. Laura shakes her head as she clips her glasses on her shirt, standing from her desk.

"I'll talk to her on Galactica. Give her a little home field advantage."

"Of course."

"What do you think of the idea?" Laura asks as she tugs on her shoes and shrugs on her blazer, flicking her hair out from underneath the collar. Bill shrugs as he hands her her bag.

"It's a solution to a lot of our problems…but I can also see the alternative view, it's decimating an entire race," Bill comments.

"An entire race that is out to kill us…they're ours to take care of, we made them," Laura points out as they walk to their transport.

"We did. But at this point do we consider them errant children to be wrangled back in?"

"I don't know," Laura answers as she takes a seat across from Bill in the back of the raptor, "We'll find out."

"I'm sure we will."


Laura's thumb trails over the sacred text. She tucks the pictures she kept in the book back in to mark her place before closing it. She sets the book on her desk and sighs before picking up her phone.

"Galactica Actual, please."

"Go for Actual."

"Is this a military decision or a political one?"

"I'd make the case that it's both."

"I want to see if there is an alternative solution. If there's a way to take the ones that…care. The ones like Athena…and bring them into the fleet. And attack the ones that see no possible future with humans."

"I can hardly call up the basestar and ask if anyone wants to jump ship."

"There are cylons, that give a frak. And there are those that don't."

"And there are sleepers that don't even know they're cylons."

"So what do we do?"

"It's all about your authorization, Madame President."

"You have my authorization, Admiral. I defer to you as to whether or not you use it," Laura replies before hanging up the phone.


"The air filtration was reversed…sucked the oxygen out."

"I think there's something to be said about the sabotage," Laura comments as she takes a drink of the amber liquid her husband had poured for her, "That maybe we need to change tactic some how."

"Change tactic?"

"There are cylons that want to live alongside us, and there are those that don't. It's the exact same on our side. Maybe we start focusing our offensive energy on the people interested in harmony than those in mutual destruction."

"Maybe we do need to change tactic," Bill concedes, draining his glass before setting it down. Laura nods quietly before draining her own glass with a wince, "Another?"

"No, can't throw it back like I used to," Laura grins.

"That's okay, you can still throw plenty of things back," Bill winks. Laura laughs and shakes her head, abandoning her glass on the coffee table before standing up. She pads over to their closet, digging around in the bottom for a moment before triumphantly pulling out a slim, hand rolled cigar and a lighter. She clips off the end and slides it between her lips before lighting it, taking a long inhale to get it going. She holds in the smoke as she walks over to Bill, offering the cigar to him as she exhales.

"Might as well take advantage of the alone time," She reasons as he takes the burning stick from her, bringing it to his own mouth. Bill raises his eyebrows in agreement as he inhales. Laura hikes her skirt up, straddling his lap as her fingers undo the first few buttons on his tunic. Bill lifts his chin to exhale away from her face, holding the cigar between his fingers as he wraps his arm around her waist, the smoke filtering up through the air behind her.

"How are you doing?" He asks, his other hand brushing her hair from her face.

"Getting back into the groove of things," Laura comments.

"You know what I mean," Bill comments. Laura pulls his hand back around to the front, taking the cigar from him. She takes a long drag as she looks him in the eye, studying carefully. She takes the cigar into her hand and rests it on the back of his chair, exhaling slowly.

"I felt violated. They physically dragged me away from my daughter. They took me from you, our sons…for four months. I was still nursing them! And the pain that I physically felt couldn't even begin to quantify the emotional pain I felt, feeling that connection just slipping away from me…All I wanted to do was hold them close, and I couldn't," Laura tells him, taking another drag as her hand shakes slightly, "I know that I'm lucky, that we are lucky, after everything that happened, but I still can't help feeling that little bit of…whatever nagging in my head every time I hold them at night, every time I send her off to school."

"Do you remember what I told you when I proposed?" Bill asks as he takes a puff off the cigar, stubbing it out to put both hands around her waist.

"Care to remind me?" Laura inquires, her hands stroking through the hair at the base of his neck, an ease settling in her eyes as the effects of their smoking start to take hold.

"You have completely and utterly infiltrated every ounce of my heart and my soul…that bit."

"It does ring a bell," Laura comments with a small smile, resting her head against his.

"Our kids have completely and utterly infiltrated every ounce of your heart and soul. You live for them. Anything you've ever done since the day they were born has been for them," Bill tells her as he reaches up to tangle his fingers in her hair, "And you have the exact same effect on them. All the boys wanted was you, the first thing Aurora asked me was if I had seen you. You're their mother, Laura. You don't have to worry about connecting with them. You will always be connected to them."

"What about you?" Laura asks, ignoring the tears gathered in her eyes.

"What about me?"

"Who worries about you?"

"You do. You always will. But they will always come first. And they should," Bill tells her, squeezing her hips. Laura sighs and lets her body sink against his, her head resting on his shoulder. Bill's arms wrap around her and hold her close, pressing a kiss to her head, "You're a great mother, and our kids are lucky to have you."

"How did I get so lucky to have you?" Laura mumbles into his shoulder.

"Maybe the same thing I did to get you," Bill tells her, his lips curling into a smile against her temple. Laura pulls back a few moments later, resting her hands on Bill's chest to hold herself up. She studies him for a moment with a low lidded eye.

"Can we?"

"Of course," Bill murmurs. He shifts forward in his chair and tightens his hold around her waist as he stands, carrying her to their rack. He drops her onto the bed with a soft puff of the blankets, grinning as she lets out a small giggle. Bill sheds his clothes before beginning to remove hers, nudging her back onto the bed once they're both naked. His hand skims up her leg as he settles between her thighs, pressing his lips to hers in a lazy kiss, "I love you."


Laura sidles up next to Bill, easily wrapping her arm through his as they stand next to the ring.

"There you are."

"Hey, I thought you were staying in with the kids."

"You know I never miss a good fight," Laura comments with a smile before pointing behind her where the kids were sitting on the edge of the causeway, their legs dangling over the edge as they cheer on with the crowd under the watchful eye of Mona, "Not that someone told me there was a good fight going on."

"Don't take it personally."

"Oh I don't," Laura grins at her husband before turning her eyes back to the ring, "What's the setup?"

"There's a lot of frustration on a battlestar…and frustrations evolve into grudges," Bill explains, "Tonight is about venting those frustrations. Rank doesn't matter, you throw your tags in the box and get yours."

"Did you throw your tags in?"

"No," Bill smiles, "This isn't my fight…besides I don't think I could fight my way through the entire crew to vent all of my frustrations."

"Oh I think you'd get through a good chunk of them," Laura smiles, squeezing his arm and looking up as Kara climbs into the ring, "Not the smartest hot dog in the pack."

Bill laughs and turns his eyes to the fight. The two watch the next couple rounds in relative silence, enjoying what seemed to be a moment of normalcy. Tigh goes to pull another set of tags out of the box instead pulling out a ring.

"Oh who the frak put a ring in the box?" Murmurs stumble through the crowd as Laura climbs the steps to the ring, slipping easily between the ropes before taking the ring out of Tigh's hand.

"I did," Laura comments handing the ring to Kara as the murmurs increase, "Admiral?"

"You sure about that?" Kara asks as she shakes out a set of wraps. Laura nods as she sheds her shirt, leaving her in a fleet issue sports bra and joggers. She drapes the shirt over the corner post and pulls her hair into a bun before holding her hands out to Kara to wrap.

"Make 'em tight."

"Sir, yes, sir," Kara comments with a grin, casting a look across the ring at her husband as he and Lee wrap their father's wrists. Kara finishes wrapping Laura's wrists, slipping her hands into two black gloves before offering her a mouth guard, "Ready for this?"

Laura nods as she takes the plastic in her mouth, setting it in her jaw. Kara takes her mother in law's glasses off, tucking them next to her shirt. Laura bounces on her feet a couple times, clapping her gloves together.

Bill shoots a semi amused glance at his wife as the bell dings, finding his face rushing to meet the floor as her left hook clocks him in the face. Laura looks down at him as he blinks widely to clear his vision for a moment.

"Is that how you vent your frustrations?" Laura taunts, letting him back up. The couple manage to tangle successfully across the floor of the ring, well timed bobbing and weaving lending it self to their years long relationship, of knowing each other so deeply.

Eventually the exhaustion settled in, swings had no power behind them. Neither landed the final blow, there didn't need to be one. They simply stood in the middle of the ring, propping each other up. Laura pulls back as Tigh calls a draw. She claps her husband against the head softly as she winks at him, retreating to her own corner. Kara pulls her gloves off and Laura thanks her before spitting out her mouth guard.

"You kicked the old man's ass."

"Oh don't worry, he got his licks in," Laura comments, rinsing her mouth out before undoing her wraps. She grabs her shirt and glasses, sliding her ring back on before taking Bill's hand as she climbs out of the ring.

"Wanna go patch each other up?"

"I might even let you pour me a drink," Laura smiles, following her husband out of the flight deck. They soon find themselves in their quarters with a first aid kit between them, the kids playing on the carpet next to them. Laura winces as he swipes antiseptic over her split brow before putting a butterfly closure over it.

"That's about as good as it's going to get."

"Thank you," Laura murmurs, kissing his lips gently before taking the kit from him, starting to patch his own wounds up, "You know I didn't think I'd manage to goad you into hitting me back."

"Well you laid me out pretty quick, I figured you were serious," Bill responds as Laura swipes ointment over a couple wounds. Laura grins and places a couple closures on the cut on his cheek.

"I was very serious," Laura assures Bill, pressing a loving kiss to the wound she'd dressed, "I also feel much less frustrated than I did before we got in that ring, what about you?"

"Surprisingly I do too."

"Good," Laura smiles, stroking Bill's hair back out of his face. Bill smiles back at her, leaning forward to capture her lips again.

"You two are weird," Aurora comments from the floor, causing Laura to break her lips from Bill with a laugh.

"I think I can live with that."


Zak had thrown the first punch after Kara hadn't come back. Bill and Laura had been alerted of the fight on the deck as soon as Lee had gotten out of his viper. Zak had been in an inconsolable rage as he waited for him and the deck crew knew that there was going to be an altercation.

"Hey!" Laura raises her voice as she steps between the two facing Zak as Bill took Lee, "Cool it!"

"He practically…" Zak starts yelling, trying to advance on his brother again. Laura puts a firm hand to his shoulder and pushes him back as she narrows his eyes.

"Zak! Let's go, now," Laura directs, pushing him back further, "Go!"

"Laura, she's…"

"I know," Laura comments, directing him off the deck and back to his quarters. Zak sinks down onto the bed before burying his face in his hands, his shoulders wracking with sobs. Laura wraps her arms around him as she sits down next to him.

"She's gone," Zak wails as he cries into her shoulder. Laura rubs her hand up and down his back, resting her cheek against his hair.

"I know she is…I know," Laura murmurs, her own voice cracking, a tear rolling down her cheek. She sits quietly with him for a while, her hand trailing over his back as he cries. Eventually Zak pulls away, rubbing his hands over his eyes and letting a shuddering breath out. Laura runs her fingers through his hair, her finger tips massaging his scalp, "Do you want me to do anything? Get you anything?"

"No…I just want to go to bed…maybe this will be a terrible dream."

"I wish it was," Laura comments as she nudges him down onto the bed. She tugs his boots off before tossing the blankets over him.

"You don't have to…"

"I know I don't," Laura comments as she sits on the edge of the bed, looking down at him, "Nothing I've ever done for you, your brother, or Kara has been out of obligation. I love you Zak. I love Kara…and I'm so sorry that you have to experience that loss."

"Thank you," Zak says, sighing as he drops his head down to his pillow. Laura smiles sadly at him, cupping his cheek gently. She presses a kiss to his head before standing and leaving his quarters. She meets Bill in the corridor and wraps her arms around him, burying her face to his chest. Bill wraps his arms around her and squeezes her tight before guiding her towards their quarters.

"What are we going to tell the kids?" Laura whispers.


[TBC]