[A/N: Another chapter? Call this a gift before my exams start, I'm not sure how regularly I'll be able to update between May 9th and June 12th, so I'm attempting to make up in advance during Easter break. I've got to confess, I rather like this chapter, and I hope you all do too. Reviews are loved, and you all get a virtual hug from yours truly!]
Taking a Break From All Your Worries
"You should sleep Pandy, it's still early" Laura coaxed, stroking the girl's hair as she rested her head down against her chest. "Close your eyes, go to sleep. Baby's in the cradle, counting sheep, climb up to your house of dreams..." Laura's voice was soft and gentle, instantly putting Pandora at ease as she lulled her daughter off to the land of dreams. It didn't take long for the girl to fall asleep, curled up against her mother as though trying to steal the warmth from her body. The raptor came to a swift stop in Galactica's hanger deck, returning the mother and daughter to their second home.
As the heavy metal door unlocked and opened, Laura stood up from her seat, turning around to pick the sleeping child up from her makeshift bed. She would quickly discover that getting off a raptor, in a pair of heels and with her arms filled with her sleeping daughter, was certainly not an easy task. Where was Bill when you need him? Walking across the hanger deck, she could hear the two armed guards following behind her. A perk of being the President. Around the clock protection, unless of course you were with the Admiral of the fleet; who had an unspoken understanding with the guards.
Given the early hour, many of Galactica's occupants were still fast asleep in their warm beds, stuck in a carefree land without any worry or fear. Laura kept her steps slow, wanting to let Pandora sleep for as long as possible. The longer she slept; the better of a mood she'd be in, and if she woke up in Bill's quarters, then Pandora would be an angel all day. Heading down the steps to the Admiral's quarters, Laura adjusted the child in her arms before raising her free hand up to knock on his door. The last thing Bill needed was to be woken up by the President. Before Laura could even knock a second time, the hatch door was pulled back and the Admiral of the Colonial fleet stood, dressed and ready to greet the President.
"Good morning" Bill said, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as he took in the sight of the President and her child. "Morning" Laura came off the last step and headed through the hatch, holding the child against her chest as they left the guards behind. Bill couldn't help but noticed that Laura looked well rested - even if she should still be asleep at this hour in the morning. "I'm amazed she's still asleep" Bill confessed, lifting up the thin cotton covers of his bunk as Laura lowered the child down before he tucked her in. "She fell asleep on the raptor on the way over, not even the idea of seeing you could keep her awake any longer" Laura joked in a whispered voice, tucking Pandora's beloved elephant under her arm and throwing the lavender blanket over her relaxed shoulders as she slept.
Laura turned around to face the man. "Did you sleep at all, Bill?" She asked the man, concern filling her voice as she took in his appearance. It hadn't changed since his unexpected visit to Colonial One the night before. Truth be told, Bill had found his quarters strangely silent without the giggles of Pandora and the relaxing presence of Laura. Without him even realising it, the pair had made themselves the center of his daily rituals. "I had work to do, you know what it's like" Bill said, brushing her concern to the side as he walked away from the bunk.
Laura sighed heavily, Bill worried about her constantly but never about himself. She could see the dark marks starting to form under his drooping eyes, the wrinkles on his forehead becoming clearer by the day. The Admiral moved towards his desk, sitting himself down as he went to speak to the woman - only to find her gone. Sighing, he leaned back on his chair and shut his eyes for the first time in over twenty-four hours. There had been too much rattling around his brain the night before for him to sleep - Laura's revelation, Hera and then Gaius frakking Baltar - now, all he wanted to do was to sleep for a lifetime. However, he pulled himself back when the room filled with the strong, intoxicating smell of freshly made coffee. Creaking his eyes opened, Bill followed Laura as she crossed the room, clasping two beakers of steaming hot coffee. If he wasn't so exhausted, Bill would have found the domestic scene as being hilarious. Laura making him a much-needed morning dose of coffee as he attempted to pull his body and mind away from the temptation of sleep while Pandora slept peacefully in the next room.
"You're a lifesaver" He admitted, holding his hands out to embrace the warm mug as Laura held it out towards him. "Don't I know it" She joked, rounding the desk to lean against it, looking to her right at the man. "How are you feeling?" Bill asked, having seen a change in her mood over the last handful of days. "I'm not tired, it's just..I feel weak. It's probably just the flu" Laura concluded, having her own turn to brush off Bill's concern as she wrapped her hands protectively around her coffee mug before taking a sip - the warmth of the liquid instantly killed off any remaining sleep.
While it was Laura's prerogative to worry about Pandora, it was his prerogative to worry about Laura. His hand came to brush against her knee as he looked up at her. "If you don't feel better in a couple of days, you should go and see Cottle" He coaxed, hoping to persuade her to listen to him. "I'll see" She said, glancing over her shoulder at the sleeping child, trying to dodge anymore of the man's questions. Bill sighed in discontent, making a mental note to make the woman an appointment with Cottle at the end of the week if she didn't improve any. If they were going to be domestic then he was damn well going to make sure she was fit and healthy.
Thankfully for Laura, before the man could question her any more about her apparent illness, the hatch door opened and in marched Cottle, Saul and Gaeta.
The three men stopped though when they noticed the President leaning against the Admiral's desk, thankfully the woman turned quick enough to disguise the man's hand that rested on her knee. "Madame President, Admiral" Cottle spoke, being the first to recover from the shock as he sat down on the edge of the couch across from the Admiral's desk while Laura once again walked around the desk and sat down at the low visitor's chair. Gaeta leaned against the wall nearest the couch while Saul sat himself down in his usual seat.
"Baltar's little hunger strike is not helping" The aging doctor revealed, as much as he would love to see the man continue it. "I say let him" Saul confessed, knowing that his opinion was shared with at least Laura and Bill, the former having been exposed to the hells of New Caprica. "Bottom line. We need Baltar to talk" Laura reminded them all, knowing that getting the corrupted former President to speak would be the hardest part. "The other cylons saw the same symbols we did, they could be on their way to Earth" She said, throwing a glance in Bill's direction. The most important thing to them all now was finding Earth, and getting Baltar to speak could be central to that. "I don't want Baltar to starve" She confessed, as much as it would pleasure her to see the man die a slow and painful death, they needed the information that he no doubt held. "I expect you to make sure he eats" Laura ordered the white haired man, who simply groaned and sighed under his breath, clearly not a fan of his latest task. Standing up, Cottle made his way out of the Admiral's office, Gaeta quick on his heels as they left. "I'll see about putting security cameras in that cell" Saul suggested as he stood up, readjusting the top of his uniform, the other two having already left the room.
"Papa" At the sound of the child's soft mutter, laced with sleep, Saul stopped dead in his tracks, his good eye widening as he turned around slowly. Surely Pandora hadn't called Bill 'Papa'? "Seems someone's awake" Bill stood from his chair and walked towards the child, who stood rubbing her right eye with one hand while she sucked her thumb and clasped her blanket and elephant with the other. Saul found himself glued to the floor, blinking as if to check his eyesight as Bill bent down to pick the child up as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Pandora rested her head down on Bill's shoulder as he carried her back towards the end of his quarters, Laura followed behind him, discarding her blazer over the couch as she went. "Did they get married and have a frakking kid without me noticing?" Saul muttered under his breath as he turned on his heel and left the room, shutting the hatch behind him, deciding that he must have been hallucinating; or was he?
Pandora sat crossed legged on the couch, her knees balancing the colouring book as she directed all her attention on the page before her as she attacked it with every colour of the rainbow. While Laura left to question Baltar, Bill had willingly volunteered to keep an eye on Pandora, saving her from another trip to the day care. "Papa" She spoke, not looking up as she addressed the Admiral. "Pandy" Bill countered, crossing his ankles and folding his hands as he looked at the child sitting next to him. "People look at me funny" She admitted, her thin eyebrows pulling together to display her confusion at the idea as she changed her gaze to the Admiral. "They whisper about me; say I don't have a real Mama and Papa" Her eyes filled with a clear, crystal river of tears as her lip began to shiver.
Sensing the on coming melt down, Bill reached out to pull the girl gently to his side, dropping a kiss down on the crown of her head. Pandora rested her head down against the man's chest, burying her face in his shirt as she sniffled away her tears. "Don't listen to them, Pandy" He ordered, though his voice was not that of the feared Admiral of the Colonial Fleet, but instead the concerned and worried father figure. "You have Laura and me, and if that doesn't satisfy those people, we'll send Kara and Lee after them with their vipers" He said, hoping to earn a smile or a precious giggle from the usually upbeat child.
"I love you, Papa" Pandora confessed as she giggled, imagining the sight of an irritated, annoyed and protective Kara and Lee charging through the hallways of Galactica in search of the whisperers. Bill paused for a moment. It had been years - decades even - since he had last heard that statement from a child. Bill couldn't even remember when the last time was. Perhaps it had been when Zak was young? Around five or six. Before Bill began spending twice as much time on board Battlestars than he did in his home. He wouldn't make that mistake twice. "I love you too, Pandy" He assured her, smiling down at her with unconditional devotion as he felt her grip of his chest tighten as she hugged him. "And Mama too?" Pandora looked up at the man with widened eyes as she awaited his answer. Once again Bill stopped. What exactly did he feel towards Laura? It was certainly more than just friendship - they had crossed that line the second Pandora arrived in their lives, as though pushing them towards each other. Brought together by someone who could only be viewed as a miracle - and second chance, both for himself and Laura.
However before the man could answer, the hatch door opened and the sound of high heels being violently and forcefully thrown into a corner echoed around the room. Laura certainly knew how to make herself at home. "It didn't work" Laura announced, putting her hands on her hips as she pursed her lips, clearly not amused that all her hard work had been for nothing. It was then that she noticed the redness around her daughter's eyes, clearly the girl had been crying. "What's wrong, Pandora?" Laura asked, instantly forgetting about her own worries and annoyance towards Baltar as she sat beside her daughter, reaching out to cup the girl's cheek.
"Nothing, Mama" Pandora whispered, receiving an unsatisfied eyebrow raise from Laura before Pandora rested her head back against her personal pillow - otherwise known as Bill's chest. While Laura was not impressed by the lack of a suitable answer from her daughter, she decided to drop the topic.
Bill reached across to touch Laura's shoulder, earning a sympathetic smile from the woman. "What happened?" He asked, lifting Pandora's arm to place her on his knee, allowing Laura to move closer to the pair of them. "He saw straight through it, called a bluff on the entire thing" Laura confessed, shaking her head as she remembered the man's actions. He didn't fear death. He knew it wasn't coming to visit him today. He used that to his advantage. Laura had strained her voice for nothing.
Upon opening the hatch door, Saul wished that he would remember to knock first. He silently wondered if they could get any more domestic. While he wasn't the President's biggest fan - by any means - she brought a bit of life back into the old man, and he had to thank her for that. Heading over to the seat nearest the lamp, and opposite the President, Saul watched as the woman moved to place her head in her hands, as though she had given up on Baltar all together. Personally, Saul wouldn't have minded allowing the woman to throw him out the airlock; though a more slow and painful death was called for in Baltar's case.
"You gave it your best shot" Bill reminded the woman, knowing that Laura would beat herself up about this for days. The President was stubborn and headstrong, not excepting defeat. "Yeah, he still wouldn't talk" Saul informed his lifelong friend, looking across at the couple on the couch, the young child settled between them. "Either he's got more balls than I give him credit for..." Saul began, however it was Bill who finished the statement "Or he knew you were bluffing" The Admiral stated, leaning back on the couch with a heavy sigh.
"What do we do now?" Saul asked, directly his question at Bill as Laura remained mute on the couch, no doubt recalling the events of her failed attempt to get Baltar to talk. "There is one thing" Bill began, looking down at Laura as both she and Pandora raised their heads to look at the Admiral. Looking over the top of her glasses, Laura anxiously waited for the man's information. "Military once ran an experimental interrogation program, involving drugs. Hallucinations" Laura sat up a little stranger at the man's words. "The goal of the program is to create a state of anxiety so intense, that the subject believed their very survival was at stake" Bill revealed, the newfound information caused Laura to lean back on the couch, Pandora's head coming to rest on her lap as she did so, stroking her daughter's thin hair. "It might get Baltar to talk, but it's dangerous for someone in his condition" Bill concluded, although Laura appeared already convinced by the idea. "You're telling me we have these drugs on board Galactica?" Laura asked, raising an eyebrow at the two men while Pandora looked between the adults with a confused expression masking her face.
Bill's nod was enough confirmation for Laura. Pandora raised her head as she felt her mother move from the couch and towards the hatch. "Can you fetch Tori please?" She asked one of the guards before shutting the hatch once more, heading back into the room.
"I don't like Baltar" Pandora uttered under her breath, folding her arms as she pouted her lips. Saul couldn't help but smirk at the child's words, sounding every bit like Laura and Bill's daughter. She had hardly gotten a chance to spend time with both Laura and Bill over the last handful of days. It seemed at least one of them was always dealing with the overthrown former President. "You and me both, little one" Laura informed the child as she bent down before her, clasping both of Pandora's small, porcelain hands in her own. "You won't have to worry about him for much longer, I promise" She explained, comforting her daughter as she dropped a kiss on her forehead before returning to her full height.
As she heard the familiar 'click clacking' of heels against the cold grey floor, Laura turned to see Tori as the hatch door opened. "We shouldn't be too long" Laura informed the woman, slipping her discarded heels back on, leaning on Bill's shoulder for support. Tori swallowed her pride and nodded her head. "Of course" She said, wondering when she had went from Laura's chief of staff to her personal babysitter.
Laura, Bill and Saul stepped out of the hatch, heading up the steps towards the hallway, disappearing from Pandora's line of view. Crossing her arms, Pandora looked at the wall in front of her and away from the woman assigned to babysit her. Pandora felt that there was something...strange...about Tori, leading the child to mistrust the woman, even at her young age.
When Laura, Saul and Bill returned, Pandora was in the exact same position she had been in when they left her. In fact, it looked like she hadn't moved a muscle. Laura walked towards her daughter, sitting herself down beside the child on the couch as Bill silently dismissed Tori. As Laura sat down, Pandora rested her cheek against her mother's arm, pulling her legs up beside her on the couch. Laura reached over to collect the well read scrolls from the table, opening the bookmark at the page of interest.
"Listen to this" She began, readjusting her glasses on her face as she spoke. "The final five cylon models. Five pillars of the temple, for the five priests devoted to the one who's name can not be spoken" She revealed, although Saul was quick to dismiss her 'religion nonsense' as he sat down beside her on the couch. "He's holding a lot back, I'm sure of it" Laura thought aloud, Baltar knew something, he just wasn't willing to tell them. "Maybe we should resort to more direct methods" Bill announced after he poured three healthy glasses of bourbon, handing one out to his XO and President, before sitting on the other side of Pandora and the President.
Taking the bourbon glass, the prospect seemed to appeal to Saul. "Now you've got my vote" He said, looking over at Bill as the man sat down. Looking down at her daughter, Laura thought about the situation with Baltar. "His biggest fear is that even if he talks, we'll kill him" She said, as much as she was in favor of the idea - no doubt Saul was too. "We have to ease his fear, make him believe that if he collaborates, the very least he'll get his life" Laura suggested, before taking a small sip of her bourbon, allowing it to soothe her strained voice from her earlier shouting session at Baltar. "He won't believe that coming from us" Bill reminded her, knowing the man didn't trust any of the three of them. "Of course not, we have to find someone he trusts" Laura said, the idea made Bill stop midway through a sip of his bourbon. Who on earth would Baltar trust? That wasn't a blasted cylon.
"I'll go and leave you lovebirds alone" Saul said, his voice serious and strict as ever as he began to rise from his spot on the couch, placing the empty bourbon glass down on the coffee table. "Admiral, President, Pandora" He nodded his head at the trio as he left the room, shutting the hatch door behind him slowly.
Bill and Laura looked down to their side at Pandora when they heard her heavy breathing as she rested against Laura's side, already fast asleep. "I swear, she could sleep anywhere. Couches, cots, raptors - you name it" Laura joked in a soft voice, not wanting to wake the child up as she stroked her hair for a moment, glad to see that the child had relaxed a little. Standing up, Bill took the empty bourbon glasses over towards the small collection of alcoholic drinks. Careful not to wake the sleeping child, Laura slipped away from Pandora's side and towards the bunk, taking the blanket and carrying it towards the child.
"My head is killing me" Laura confessed, lifting the blanket and throwing it over the sleeping child, watching as the girl wrapped her arms around it. "Go and lie in the bunk, I'll get you a painkiller and a glass of water" Bill said, trying to hide his concern, knowing the woman would only brush it away as being nothing more than the flu. Laura would be going to see Cottle as soon as possible, even if he had to drag her down to the hospital himself. He wasn't going to watch her get sick and do nothing about it. The woman nodded her head, deciding not to protest against the headstrong, stubborn man. "Okay" She muttered, pushing Pandora's thin hair out of her eyes as she bent down to kiss the child's forehead after tucking her in.
Following the man's orders, Laura patted across the carpet, kicking her heels off at the bottom of the bed and got on top of the bunk, resting her head against the firm pillows as she shut her eyes for a moment. It felt as though she had walked into a brick wall repeatedly after a drunken night on the town. Laura was certainly positive of one thing - that was not why her head was in such a painful state. She cracked open her eyes as she felt the bed beside her dip.
Accepting the glass of chilled water and the two small painkiller tablets - her personally lifesaver - Laura sat up in the bed as she looked at Bill. "I told him I didn't take any satisfaction in seeing his pain" She confessed, because as much as she wanted the man gone, Laura hated seeing the sight of pain on the face of any man, woman or child - regardless of their past wrongs. "The truth is that I was willing to see him endure a great deal of suffering in order to get what I wanted" Laura said, unable to deny that she had willingly allowed - even requested - the use of the medication on Baltar, well aware of the consequences. "I wanted a genuine admission of guilt" She concluded, knowing she would not be able to settle for anything less than that. "It's something you're not going to get from someone like Baltar" Bill reminded Laura, watching as she drowned her painkillers with her water before taking the glass from her and placing it on the nightstand.
As Laura rested her head back down against the pillow, she looked up at the man. "It's not who he sees himself as, in his mind he's the victim" Bill stated, knowing how men like Baltar thought, how they would victimise themselves to handle their guilt. "It's not too late for him to just..disappear" He offered, knowing that such a situation would lessen Laura's stresses greatly - he wouldn't have suggested it otherwise. Laura felt her lips pull up in a small smile, aware of the man's reasoning behind such an offer as she covered his hand with her own.
"We can't do that" She admitted, even though it killed her to say it. "For all his crimes, he's one of us" Laura accepted that now, having seen the pain they had caused him when under the experimental drugs. "So what happens next?" Bill asked, his hand coming to cover Laura's on his left hand.
"We give him his trial" Laura spoke, a comfortable silence falling over the couple. Laura remained in the bunk, gazing up at the man beside her as she took in his appearance. Bill on the other hand, was deep in thought as he thought of their current situation, remembering Pandora's earlier comments and the thoughts it had provoked. What was Laura to him now? They had crossed the line of friendship as soon as Pandora arrived, and in his mind, they were very much passed the point of no return.
Turning around, Bill's eyes caught Laura as he bent down slowly, his hand coming to cup Laura's cheek as his lips captured hers in a loving embrace. Shutting her eyes, Laura deepened the kiss as her hand slipped behind the man's neck. Laura pulled away when oxygen once again became a necessity. Bill could see the dim light dancing in Laura's eyes as she gazed up at him. "Stay" Laura breathed, her hand clasping around the man's wrist as she looked up at him, her freshly kiss lips parting as she anxiously waited for his reply. Bill didn't have to be asked twice.
Laura slipped closer to the wall and turned on her side, her head coming to rest on Bill's chest, her hand protectively placed on his heart, similarly to that night on New Caprica. Placing a kiss down on the crown of Laura's head, Bill wished that time itself could stop in that moment. Everything was at peace in the room; even if it was like a war zone outside. "Get some sleep, Laura" He whispered against her forehead, watching as the woman's eyes grew heavy as she listened to the steady beating of his heart.
With one hand tangled in Laura's fire kissed waves, and the other clasped over the woman's hand on his chest, Bill couldn't help but follow her into a peaceful slumber. Baltar would have his trial. He just prayed that it wouldn't bring untold chaos to the fleet - especially for Laura.