A/N: I can't even begin to tell you how difficult it was for me to write this chapter. When you take the flashbacks out of 'Unfinished Business' it is basically one continual scene, not the easiest thing to write. After hitting a major brick wall, I eventually settled with this. Consider it another filler chapter before we get to the pretty heavy episode later in series three and even more so in the fourth series. Thank you all for all your reviews, each and every message makes my day! Don't forget, every follow, review and favourite gets a virtual hug from yours truly!
Unfinished Business
"Can we go and see Bill now?" Pandora pleaded, growing tired as she looked up impatiently at Laura. They had been on board Galactica for over three hours now, most of which had been spent in the makeshift boardroom agonising over a small mountain of outrageous demands from the Quorum of Twelve and their delegates. All Pandora wanted to do was go and see Bill; a fact she continued to remind Laura of at each and every possible occasion.
By this stage, Laura had lost count. Both of how many ignorant and foolish reports she had been forced to read through and how many times Pandora had begged to go and see Bill. Shutting the cardboard folder over, Laura nodded her head in silent acceptance, having given up on the latest disastrous report. Pushing herself off the cold metal chair, Pandora slipped on her button-down cardigan as she clutched her cherished elephant against her elbow. "Ready!" She beamed, her mouth wide open as she clasped her hands in front of her, rocking herself back and forth on her patent black shoes.
Since the medal ceremony, Pandora had hardly been out of her red dress. Declaring that she wanted to wear it because it reminded Bill of 'something that her mother had worn once'. After the first couple of days, Laura had given up arguing with the child over the issue. Standing up from her seat, Laura collected the ever-growing pile of paperwork and loaded it into her leather handbag. Throwing the hefty handbag over her shoulder, she held her hand out for Pandora to take. The child all but skipped towards Laura, reaching out to take her hand with a vivid smile and a spring in her step. "Come on!" Pandora exclaimed, clutching Laura's hand as she moved towards the door of the boardroom, attempting to get to Bill as quickly as humanly possible.
By now, the four year old knew the hallways of Galactica like the back of her hand. Turning the corner, she broke away from Laura as they edged closer to Bill's quarters. "Just two seconds, Pandy" Laura said, stepping in front of her ward in an attempt to open the cold grey hatch. "Bill?" The woman called as she stepped into the room, holding the hatch open as Pandora slipped under her arm and into the familiar quarters. "Bill!?" Pandora boomed, disappearing into the bedroom with a skip in her step as she searched for her partner in crime. "Bill?" Her voice fell sharply as she came to the realisation that the man she was searching for was in fact no where too be found.
As Pandora's bottom lip started to shiver, Laura decided that the sooner they found Bill the better. "Come on you, we best find Bill before those water works start" Laura comforted, reaching out for the child with anxious hands, mindful of the extremes that a child's waterworks could get to as she headed out of Bill's empty quarters. It wasn't just Bill that seemed to be missing. It looked as though the majority of the Galactica crew had up and left. Pandora was growing more distressed by the minute as Laura carried her through the deserted hallways of Galactica in search of Bill.
"He's at the dance; room opposite the hanger deck" The rough, deep voice almost made Laura jump out of her skin. Turning on her heel, the President came face to face with Doctor Cottle; who put the amber flame of his cigarette out upon seeing the child on her hip. After all, the last thing he wanted was a lecture about smoking around children - especially the President's. "Is it that obvious?" Laura wondered aloud, setting Pandora down onto the ground as the child wiped away her unshed tears. "You looked as though you had just lost your right arm and Pandora seems to be a daddy's girl. So yes, it is that obvious" Cottle announced, respectfully nodding his head at the President and the child beside her before making his own way down the hallway, wanting to pick up a flask of whiskey - and now another cigarette - before going to the dance himself.
Pandora seemed anxious to get to Bill, like a daughter missing her father. Laura attempted to keep in step with Pandora, who hurried down the hallways like a Viper in flight. The child suddenly skidded to a stop at the door, turning around to look at her adoptive mother. Opening the door cautiously, the room sounded like the ringside of a circus, Laura could instantly tell that this certainly wasn't your typical dance.
Every viper pilot and half of the crew had to be at this so called 'dance'. Holding onto Pandora's smaller hand, the woman stepped inside and searched through the crowds of pilots, CIC crew and hanger deck crew. It was then that Laura noticed the boxing ring placed at the center of the room, with the majority of the audience glued to the actions in the center of the boxing ring. Walking further into the room, Laura could eventually pick Bill out from the crowd. "Bill!" Pandora seemed to have spotted the man as well, as she let go of Laura's hand and slipping through the crowds to reach him.
The child launched herself at the man, wrapping her arms around his leg in a deadlock before looking up at him with her best puppy dog impression. "I couldn't find you!" She protested, in a strong voice, which caused Bill to chuckle to himself. Pandora really was the double of Laura; even if it was a fact that puzzled Bill.
Walking up beside the pair, the President smiled to herself contently. "My father was an avid fight fan. I adored my father so I love a good fight" Laura confessed, glancing at the man beside her out of the corner of her eye before returning her attention to the boxing match in the center of the ring. Bill paused for a moment, as though time itself had frozen. Laura's Mona Lisa smile captivated him - it always had. In the dull light, she looked more carefree and youthful than he had seen her in a short lifetime.
Turning her attention away from the fight, Laura could feel her lips pulling up in a teasing smile "I heard about your so called dance, accidentally I might add" She revealed, faking a serious tone as Pandora clawed her hands on Bill's leg in a bid to pull his attention away from her guardian. "I can't see!" Pandora said, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet. Laura shook her head; the little girl was certainly a curious little thing. Bending down, Bill scooped the child up onto his hip so that she could see into the ring. With wide eyes, Pandora attempted to follow the fierce and sharp movements of the pair currently fighting.
"Don't take it personally, it's sort of a private tradition" He admitted, turning himself to face the woman beside him. After all, he had never expected Laura to be someone who enjoyed fighting - otherwise he would have invited her in a heartbeat. In his mind, rather ignorantly, he had thought she was the sort who enjoyed the ballet and a glass of chardonnay, not a ringside seat at a blood covered boxing game. It seemed she had mastered an art for surprising him. "Tradition?" Laura wondered aloud, after all, how could beating the life out of your fellow crew mate be considered a tradition? "What's a trediaton..?" Pandora asked, having lost interest in the game going on in front of her.
"Tradition, Pandy" Laura corrected, watching as the child again attempted to pronounce the word but failed, giving up with a disappointed sigh. "It's something that a family always does together." Laura attempted to explain to the girl, reaching out to take her hand with a comforting smile. "What's ours?" Pandora asked, looking with curious eyes from Laura to Bill then back again. The question had caught both adults off guard. Laura was well aware that they were getting a little too close; with both herself and Bill naturally falling into the parent roles in Pandora's life. Though were they a family unit? She and Bill were growing closer by the day but...a family? Laura doubted that Bill wanted to go through the child rearing years again - even with her. Though it was Bill's turn to do the surprising. "I guess you and I will have to come up with a few of our own" Bill concluded, getting a cheerful chuckle and gleeful smile from Pandora, who rested her head down against the man's hefty shoulder.
"Did you throw your tags in there?" Laura asked, raising a thin eyebrow as she waited for his answer. "I wish. All the frustrations that I have" He said, wanting nothing more than to punch and throw the anger out of himself and lift the burden of stress and responsibility from his shoulders. Perhaps he could? "What?" Laura asked worriedly, knowing that look all too well - Bill was up to something. "Can you hold these?" Bill asked, not waiting for an answer as he took the gold plated wings off his uniform and placed them into the palm of Laura's ivory pale hand.
The Admiral lifted the thick ropes of the ring before pushing himself up and into the empty boxing ring. Standing in the center of the ring, Bill rolled up the end of his navy sleeves as he scanned the room in search of his boxing partner. "Chief, get your fat lazy ass up here" He commanded, his booming and rough voice left the room in momentary silence before it erupted in whispers and hushed voices - followed by the occasional cry of support. Laura stepped forward as the Chief wasted no time in getting into the ring, rallied on by the cries of the crowd around him. She just prayed that Bill knew what he was getting himself into. The Chief was a lot younger, fitter and quicker than Bill; though he always did find a way to surprise her. She just hoped he wasn't being foolish.
"Bill?" Pandora stood as close to the ring as possible, her eyes fearfully watching her father figure. "Why?" She asked, turning around to look at her mother with wondering eyes. Shaking her head, Laura bent down so that she was at eye level with the child. "It's a game" The President spoke in half truths, deciding that it was best if Pandora didn't know what was going to unfold.
When Bill delivered his first blow, Pandora made enough noise for the entire crowd. "Bill, hit him!" The girl shouted, while she didn't understand the game, she knew that it was better that Bill was the one doing the punching than him being punched. Laura rested her hand protectively on Pandora's shoulder, fearful the child might decide to slip through the ropes and join Bill's battle. Her free hand gripped the thick crisp white rope, as she cautiously watched Bill, feeling her heart in her mouth as she followed his every step.
As Bill stumbled against the rope, Pandora gasped, her eyes widening with fear as Laura reached out to touch Bill's back; attempting to offer him support and reassurance before he moved back into the ring - hitting the chief once more. Laura could hear the blood pounding in her ears as the younger man seemed to use his advantage over Bill. Quicker, lighter, younger. Bill was no match for the Chief.
Bill was having the life beaten out of him. Laura felt as though she could feel every punch hitting Bill's face. By this stage, Pandora was no longer watching her father figure with an admiring gaze. Instead, the child had attempted to hide behind her mother, using Laura's slender legs as a barricade between herself and the traumatic occurrences in the boxing ring. With both hands clasped over her small ears, Pandora shut her eyes as she attempted to block out the sound of clashing skin.
Laura wasted no time in slipping between the ropes and getting into the ring during halftime, with Cottle on her heels. "You insist on doing this! You're crazy right" She scolded, attempting to reason with the man as she arrived in front of him, seeing no reason for him to put himself through such unnecessary trauma.
Reaching out for the grey cardboard bucket, Bill wondered if the Chief had managed to knock out tooth or two out. "You wanna do this?" Laura asked, though knowing that Bill's stubbornness and self-pride wouldn't allow him to forfeit the match. "Yeah" He replied, confirming Laura's earlier fears. Tapping the damp cloth onto the open wounds and oozing gashes on Bill's forehead, she did her best to clean up the crimson blood as she spoke "He's coming in wide, hit him with your left hook" She advised, remembering her years of watching boxing with her beloved father - even if she had only be half interested in it all back then.
"You wanna win?" Laura demanded to know, praying that the answer was no. She wasn't sure she could cope with much more of this - seeing him being beaten and left black and blue wasn't something Laura enjoyed, in fact, her heart dropped even further with every hit. "I'm not gonna win" Bill concluded, pushing himself off the short wooden stool in and back into the ring.
As the shrilling squeal of the whistle announced the commencing of the second half, Laura slipped through the ropes once more and back down to the anxious Pandora - the girl looked on the verge of a breakdown. If she had known for even a moment that this wasn't your usual 'dance' then Laura wouldn't have taken Pandora inside, but now there was no point in trying to leave with the girl. Pandora had seemed to inherit Bill's stubbornness during their days together, and Laura was confident that the girl wouldn't leave under she knew Bill was safe and sound. As Laura picked the girl up, she allowed the child to wrap her legs tightly around her slender waist before locking short her arms around her neck. With one hand buried in Pandora's thick hair and the other resting on the girl's back, Laura impatiently watched the second half.
As the chief continued to deliver blow after blow to Bill's crimson covered face, Pandora buried her head a little further into Laura's shoulder, tears filling her eyes as she tried not to look at the falling man. Taking a deep breath, Laura shut her eyes for a moment as she kissed the crown of the child's head. No one in the room was speaking - no one could willingly watch the events unfolding before their very eyes.
It had only taken a handful of blows to knock the Admiral off his feet and onto his back with a heavy thud. Laura prayed to the Lords of Kobol that Bill had endured enough to call the fight to an end. As the room dropped to a dreary silence, Pandora fussed in Laura's arms, silently demanding down to see the injured man. Allowing the Chief to help him up, Bill could feel his back starting to go, the tender muscles felt as though they had been pulled and torn in each and every direction. Looking around at the crew, who's faces seemed plagued with concern, worry and anxiety, Bill cleared his throat before speaking.
"When you get in this ring, you be prepared to fight - or you dishonor what we're here for." He said, his voice harsh and deep as his eyes narrowed. "Remember, when you fight a man, he's not your friend. The same goes when you lead men. I forgot that once." He paused, deciding that what he needed to say had to be said, if not by him then by someone else. "I let you get too close, all of you. I dropped my guard. I gave some of your breaks, let some of you go, before the fight was really over" Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Lee standing near both Dee and Kara - he knew he should have kept a more watchful eye on his son, now he was too late."I let this crew and this family disband" Bill confessed, looking down at Laura and Pandora, the former's eyes were clouded with relief and reassurance; he could always depend on Laura for that."And we paid the price in lives" The hairs on his back would stand up every time he walked down the cold grey Galactica hallways and came face to face with the pictures of the dead, a makeshift graveyard for those they lost. "That can't happen again" He concluded, the fleet couldn't survive going through it all again.
Once more, the room dropped into a dead silence before Bill stepped off the ring. Pandora sniffled as she watched Bill clasped Laura's smaller hand in his own, allowing her to assist him down. The young girl couldn't ignore the surge of pain that went through his face. "Madame President" Bill acknowledged the woman with a slight nod as he held his free hand - which still shook from the round of punches he had attempt to throw at the Chief - out for Pandora. She stepped forward to take the man's worn out hand, her eyes still filled with unshed tears as she walked close beside him. "Admiral" Laura said, holding onto his hand as she made a path for them through the crowds, whom stepped back out of their way, gawking at the trio as they headed towards the deserted hallway.
By the time they had arrived at Adama's quarters, Pandora was clinging onto the man as though her very existence depended on it. "I have half a mind to send you to Cottle to get that head of yours looked at!" Laura protested, pouring a plentiful glass of whiskey for the man before going in search of his first aid kit. "It's fine, I landed on my back" Bill said, attempting to soothe her worries as he sat on the ash grey sofa next to the walnut table with Pandora curled up on his knee, resting her head against his chest as it gently rising and falling underneath her. "I mean before that. You must of lost your mind to have done that, Bill" Laura said, her irritation clear in her voice. He should have known better than challenging the Chief.
"You..you scared me, Bill. What would have happened if the Chief had of knocked the lights straight out of you?" Laura hadn't expected herself to get so worked up by it all, but he had put himself in danger, and even more so with Pandora standing there to bare witness to it all. "I know, it just happened" He confessed, still not remembering his mental reasoning for getting into the center of the ring in the first place - perhaps he should take Laura's advice and see Cottle.
Sitting down beside the pair, Laura began to wipe away the dried blood and close over the open wounds on the man's hard skin. "Can we...make it a tradition to not go... 'dancing'?" Pandora asked, hastily looking up at the adults with her large chocolate brown eyes, hoping her wish would be granted. Bill chuckled to himself then, nodding his head as he looked down at the girl. "I promise" He swore, looking at Laura who rolled her eyes, suspecting it would be the first of several traditions Pandora and Bill would attempt to make. The worry and anxiety effortlessly slipped away from Laura as the room filled with the pair's laughter, the noise was music to her ear, and assured her that even after Bill's latest stunt nothing had changed - except perhaps a new tradition between the dysfunctional family unit.