AN: this is my first time writing for Baltar. i have always stayed away from him because he seemed too difficult to capture. i hope that i did okay with his dialogue and characterization.

LLA

OFFICE OF JOHN CAVIL CYLON ADMINISTRATION BUILDINGS

"So?" Boomer prompted, her arms folded and an expectant look plastered on her face.

"So what?" Caprica returned, watching where her sister stood to the right hand of Cavil's desk.

She didn't like the way Boomer had become so close with the Ones since their arrival on the new planet but she supposed she was partly to blame. Boomer had no one before they'd met in Caprica City. They'd needed one another, feeling so out of place among their respective lines. It was their shared pain and dissolution that had inspired them to convince the others to attempt a peaceful existence with their creators. Together they'd felt empowered again. Then they'd arrived and there was Giaus and Caprica virtually deserted Sharon to be by his side day and night. It was no wonder the Eight now clung to the cantankerous old machine. He had a way of making others feel important and yet demoralizing them all at the same time. Sharon had no doubt been drawn to him, still so conflicted over who she was, looking for both acceptance and punishment.

"Well, what happened, Six? Speak," Cavil urged from his desk chair as if he were speaking to a trained dog.

"You'd do better to ask me specifics," Caprica answered with narrowed eyes. "I'm not here to give a play by play. I did what was asked of me."

"And what was Roslin's response?" Boomer asked in a more amicable tone in order to offset John's rudeness.

Caprica looked back and forth between the pair.

"She's afraid," she firmly stated. "She's worried. Probably for her own safety as well as her child's. We've already made it so she can't trust us. She's living in constant fear of being taken," she summarized, putting her hands to her hips.

Cavil scowled and swiveled side to side in his chair like a petulant child visiting his father's workplace for the day.

"Excuse me if I don't feel pity for the woman used to airlock cylons alive."

"Physically how is she?" Boomer inquired, again doing her best to ignore his rankor.

Caprica sighed in thought.

"She doesn't look well to be frank. Though the conditions have most looking rather weathered these-"

"We know all about the conditions," Cavil snapped without letting her finish.

"Ignoring them and then getting angry because the colonials are resistant to our governance is not helping," she argued.

"Would you just stick to the topic at hand?" he complained.

She glared at him and his overly dominant behaviour. He didn't intimidate her. Alone the Ones were domineering and arrogant but they voted with their lines just as they all did. They held no true power over the other models. They were designed as equals no matter how some of them acted. She sometimes felt sorry for the Ones; the first of all the lines, filled with flaws and bitterness, but their pension for attempted intimidation never failed to assuage her occasional sympathies.

"Has her condition improved?" Boomer asked, cringing a bit at the memory of finding Roslin in a pool of blood.

"She says it has. She's been out of the clinic for days. I suppose that's a good sign."

"If we would just take her in," John began his complaint, "we would know first hand!"

In a few swift paces Caprica was at his desk, her hands gripped to the sides and her lithe body bent over and inches from his face. She was fed up with his constant antagonism.

"Would you just shut up for five frakking minutes!? You sent me to do a job and yet you can't be bothered to hear my assessment? Why don't you get a hold of your emotions, John? It's not very becoming of a machine, as you and your fellow Ones constantly like to remind the rest of us," she finished with a sneer. "Now you listen to me; you take that woman by force any time soon and you'll no doubt lessen the chances of winding up with a healthy baby. She's obviously under tremendous stress and hardly properly nourished. She's carrying a child at the tail end of her reproductive cycle and after an illness that nearly frakking killed her no less! To top it all off she has a serious untreatable complication with her pregnancy. If you arrest her and put her under that level of distress there's an excellent chance that she'll lose this baby. You sent me there to warn her against aborting her pregnancy and yet you'd willingingly endanger its viability!? If you really want this baby to live I suggest we leave her be until her condition is more stable. Take her now and even Simon won't be able to ensure a good outcome. You'll be left with nothing but a DNA specimen of what could have been a living breathing miracle of human and cylon unity."

She stayed leaning over his desk and glowering down at him despite being done with speaking her piece.

Finally he responded with an infuriating smirk.

"Thanks for the impassioned rant, Six," he jeered as he mockingly began to applaud.

Frustrated she pushed away from the desk with a huff.

"Do you want my frakking input or not? Because I can leave," she told them, ready to do just that, but Boomer stepped in her way, blocking her from a clear shot to the door.

"Yes," Boomer insisted. "We do. Of course we do. What about the Old Man. Did she mention him?"

Caprica swallowed down some of her frustrations. She was determined to do what Sharon had asked of her despite John's hostility.

"The child is his. She confirmed it."

Boomer's eyes went wide.

"Gods, Baltar was right," she said slightly flabbergasted.

They'd largely accepted the theory of the child's paternity but somehow knowing it was true for certain left Sharon feeling slightly stricken.

"Ya know that part just tickles me!" Cavil mused from his post.

"She's very distressed that he's gone," Caprica added.

"He has no idea," Boomer whispered, mostly to herself.

"And what do you care?" Cavil challenged the Eight.

Sharon glared at him and then shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Sometimes it was still so difficult to separate her old life from her new one. The life that had been a lie. In the moment she couldn't help but feel for the Old Man, gone and unaware that he was expecting another child. He'd been so much like a father to her for so long. She had to quickly force the thoughts away.

"When you advised her to keep the pregnancy how did she react?" Boomer tested, doing her best to move on.

"She was quiet," Caprica said with a shrug. "She didn't share very much, understandably. I got the message across though, in more ways than one, if that's what you're asking."

Boomer chanced a look at Cavil, expecting him to react. Both women were relieved when he kept his mouth shut.

"Did she...Did she seem to recognize you?" Sharon tested.

"No. No, I don't think so. Though we've never really met before."

"Baltar says-" Cavil began but this time Caprica took a chance to interrupt him.

"I'm aware of what Gaius said Roslin saw, but she made no indication. Perhaps she couldn't tell or perhaps that past interaction wasnt enough for her to be able to recall."

"You could have just asked," Sharon dryly interjected.

The almost forced flippant attitude with which she suggested it rubbed Caprica the wrong way.

"I was trying not to frighten her anymore than I had to. Do either of you even really care about this child? Roslin was terrified to have me inside of her home and you're suggesting that I should have told her that I was the one who ignited the annihilation of her home planet and then asked if she could tell?"

Sharon huffed and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she deflected. "Never mind that. As long as the child lives we'll have plenty of time to gauge what kind of cylon attributes it may or may not have. Whether or not Roslin has them is more or less inconsequential at this point, I guess," she conceded, but her disappointment over her theory remaining unconfirmed was obvious.

"Look," Caprica began, "if you're going to send a party to keep tabs on her over a period of time then I'd like to volunteer."

"Why?" Boomer challenged, surprised over the offer. "You didn't want to go in the first place."

Cavil snickered from his armchair.

"Getting a little too crowded in the President's bed, is it, Six?" he taunted with glee.

Ignoring his ridicule, Caprica set her focus on Boomer.

"She let me in this time," she contended. "Chances are she may again."

"The Three's want to make a visit," Cavil interjected. "D'Anna especially."

Caprica grimaced at the thought.

"If I go it will be less of a chore than sending someone new each time. Roslin doesn't trust us as it is. Sending someone new will only upset her further," she debated. "Plus, I'll probably be able to tell if she knows it's me again. Isn't that what you wanted, Sharon?"

Boomer bit her lip and thought for a moment. She could hardly believe that the Six was even considering leaving Baltar's side, let alone becoming involved in a task that was hardly affecting him.

"I suppose that makes sense," she conceded with a nod.

Caprica took a few deliberate steps toward her making sure to look her directly in the eye.

"I understand that I haven't lived up to what I intended, Sharon. I do want to do better."

"No need, Six," Cavil blurted as he leaned his chair backward. "You did enough in the colonies. Remember? You're a cylon hero," he added with an unmistakable tone of sarcasm.

Caprica kept her gaze on Sharon.

"I made a promise to my sister," she replied

"Oh brother," Cavil muttered.

"We came here to join the races," she asserted. "This baby could lead us to what we've dreamed of. I want to help."

"Whatever," the One said in dismissal. "Fine with me."

Boomer remained quiet for a moment longer before nodding in acceptance and thanks.

"For now as you suggested, we'll leave Roslin alone," she promised the Six just as a knock came at the door.

"Come in!" Cavil shouted.

The door opened and two Fives entered in unison each donning a suit in a garish variant of purple.

"Sorry for the interruption," the first Five began.

"We thought you should know," the second added.

"Laura Roslin," the first spoke again," she was seen being rushed to the colonial medical tent not long ago."

COLONIAL MEDICAL TENT

"Laura," Cottle said as he entered her curtain.

"Don't ask me again, Sherman. Please," said with a sigh of exhaustion.

She couldnt defend her decision. She had no defence. No good explanation besides her own emotions. She knew it was the wrong choice and even so she knew that she wouldn't change her mind again. She was tired of going over and over it in her head.

"No. No that's not why I'm here," the doctor assured as he moved closer to her bedside. "You've told me your decision and I respect it. I'm already changing directions. In fact I have a medic scheduled to bring back the ultrasound machine this evening. I figure we need to take another look with preservation in mind. I just wanted you to rest some first."

"Thank you, Sherman," Laura said with sincere appreciation.

He nodded.

"The reason I came is because of Saul Tigh."

Laura's heart skipped a beat.

"Lords. He's been taken again?"

"No. No," Cottle shook his head. "He has been pacing outside of this facility like a maniac for the better part of the afternoon. He's ranted to anyone on staff who will listen and he's demanding to know if you're alright. I guess word got to him quickly that you'd been taken here because he showed up soon after you arrived. I didn't tell you before since you were really in no condition. Anyway, I can't tell him a damn thing, until you tell me it's alright but I don't think the Colonel is going to leave without some confirmation that you're okay. Will you allow me to get rid of him by telling the daft old coot that you're indeed alive."

Laura's eyes went down to her lap.

"He's been so good to me since...Yes, Sherman. That's fine. Just please don't-"

"I'll just tell him you're going to be fine and then send him off back to Ellen."

"Thank you."

"But, Laura," the doctor began, "I've been giving this situation a good deal of thought. Now that you've decided to carry this child as long as possible we are going to need the help of others if we want to keep it out of cylon hands. It won't be easy. I'm not even sure that it's going to be possible, but if there's anyone who can help us try it's Saul Tigh. We're going to need him on this."

Laura took a deep breath in.

"I know that. Just not yet. I'll tell him. Soon."

"You get some rest, young lady" Cottle said with a pat to her forearm. "Ill get rid of good ol' Uncle Saul and I'll be back in this evening to take a look at the little nugget."

"Thank you, Sherman."

Once the doctor was gone Laura closed her eyes and began to pray. Over the span of an afternoon she'd made a choice that was about to endanger the lives of many others. Her guilt was as heavy as her fear.

COLONIAL ONE

"Where have you been?" Giaus asked as he stood behind his desk in his sloppily tied robe.

"You know I went to see Laura Roslin," Caprica scowled as she looked him up and down. It didn't look as if he'd even attempted to get dressed for the day. "Do you intend to stay in your robe all day again?"

"You left for Roslin hours ago," he remarked, picking up a bottle of pills from his desk. "You mean to tell me it took that long to talk to her? Doubtful. She'd never put up with it," he said with a snort as he squinted to read the bottle's label before discarding it for another.

"I went to give my report after," Caprica explained watching him as he uncapped the bottle and popped two of its contents into his mouth.

"Lovely," he said with a roll of his eyes, picking up yet and another bottle and taking a dose of whatever it contained too without so much as a sip of water to follow.

Caprica grimaced at him.

"Giaus, do you need all of those?" she challenged, knowing what state he'd likely soon be in.

"Yes," he returned with some snark before turning and making his way through the curtain that divided his office from his personal quarters. "Well how did it go then? Don't suppose she mentioned me?" he spoke as he walked.

Caprica sighed and followed him.

"Your name was brought up at one point," she admitted, though she had no intention of telling him what Roslin had said about his actions or his character.

Giaus shuffled to an end table finding a cup of something and sniffing it before taking a sip.

"She blames me, doesn't she?" he jabbered. "For this bastard amalgamation she's concieved. She thinks its my fault for altering her DNA."

Caprica could hear his every rambling word but her focus was on the four poster bed in the center of the room. It's sheets were untucked and tousled about. When she'd left early in the day Giaus had been in the shower. Hoping that it might discourage him from just going back to sleep once he was out she'd very purposefully and neatly made the bed before she'd left. Now it was a mess. On a frantic search for his cigarette case around the cluttered room Giaus was oblivious to her obvious concern.

"Roslin never said anything of the sort," Caprica replied, her eyes still on the tangled sheets. "I highly doubt she considers you a factor in her child's conception, Giaus."

"You know, I had no way of knowing her DNA would be permanently changed," Giaus replied, still searching under discarded clothing and unread reports. "There was no time for such considerations. I was trying to save her life in the nick of time, after all."

"Giaus-" Caprica attempted but he gave no indication that he even heard her, flipping over binders and throwing socks as he hunted.

"Besides, how in the worlds was I to fathom she'd ever go on to conceive a child after her illness and considering her age and position!? It's absurd!"

"Giaus!"

"What?" He snapped in return, halting his scouring and finally looking her in the eyes.

"Whatever hand you may have had in this child's genetic makeup is over. It's Roslin who now has the task of bringing this child into the world. No one else."

Baltar looked down at his feet. They were quiet for a moment before he walked over to the side of the bed and took a seat on its edge.

With a quick look around Caprica easily located his cigarette case. Removing one she handed it to him and he took it with a nod of thanks.

"Will she be taken?" he asked as he put it to his lips.

Caprica took out a match and struck it on the side of the case. She held it out for him until the tip of the roll burned red and a swirl of smoke rose between them.

"I'd examine her, and the fetus if needed," Giaus exhaled with a forced casual shrug.

Caprica's brow creased and she tossed the dead match in a way too full waste paper basket.

"I've advised against that for now and I think Simon and his staff have it covered," she said as she took her place in front of him with her arms crossed. "She's seeing the military doctor for now."

"Sherman Cottle," he said, letting out some contempt for the man along with a puff of smoke. "That old codger. You were able to convince her to keep it then? Have to say I'm a bit surprised. I wouldn't have thought she'd even consider it given the implications."

Caprica frowned.

"It's her son."

Gaius exhaled and cocked his head to the side.

"Who your people are only going to take from her once he's born," he challenged.

"This child is supposed to be a symbol of unity," Caprica countered with some distress to her voice. "If we take him from his influential colonial mother there will be no hope in that."

"But if you steal him and study him you'll be able to make lots more like him, now won't you?" Giaus smirked with another roll of his eyes.

"That's not the point!" she argued.

She waved some of the smoke away in frustration, becoming more fed up with his rhetoric and the smell.

"Isn't it?" he scoffed. "You dont think your brother John thinks so?"

Caprica let out a huff. She was concerned herself but she'd felt confident that they were all on the same page as she'd left the One's office. If she and Boomer were going to get their plan back on track it was going to take a lot more optimism and a lot less cynicism.

"There may be a way to convince Roslin to allow us to evaluate the child with her consent if it's for the greater good of her own people."

"Oh really?" Giaus laughed. "Let me tell you something, my darling, you will not find a bigger cylophobe in the universe than Laura Roslin, understand? You think she's going to willingly let her child be used by a bunch of toasters to integrate her people with a race of machines?"

"I think she's a smart woman," Caprica contested. "I think she'll do what's best in the end."

"We'll see about that. You two may not have the same opinion on what's best," Giaus said with a yawn.

He extended his mostly finished cigarette for her to take.

She did so with some disgust and tossed it into the closest half empty glass to fizzle out. When she turned back to him she found that he'd already slumped over on the bed.

"I think I can convince her," she answered as she began to pace in the small space between the bed and the bulkhead.

"How, pray tell, will you accomplish that?" Giaus mumbled into the blankets.

"I don't know."

"Right," he mocked.

She shot him daggers but his eyes were already closed.

"You were right about, Adama," she attempted, hoping the news would rouse him.

"I was?" he slurred before realizing what she'd said and shooting back upright, eyes wide. "Of course I was! I knew it, I did. I knew she'd been in bed with the military the entire time. It was always Adama Roslin, wasn't it? Vice President Baltar indeed," he continued to rant. "I should have known that they were frakking from the start but you know, I'd assumed for quite a long time that she was frakking the bloody son!"

"Giaus," Caprica called.

Her comment had spurred the desired effect in stimulating him but he still was hardly paying her any attention.

"Really, if you'd seen the way the younger Adama looked at her back then you'd have assumed the same. Well, like father like son I suppose. And here comes another Adama son to add to the damned dynasty."

"Both of those men are gone," Caprica reminded.

"Yes," Giaus said as he reclined back on the bed with another yawn, unable to keep fighting the pills he'd downed. "Yes, for now."

"You know, I cant help but feel for her," Caprica said, taking a seat on the other side of the bed.

"Who?"

"Roslin."

"Oh," he half replied.

"She seems so alone. No one could possibly understand what she's dealing with."

"Mm."

"Giaus do you think...Do you think she had a hand in killing the hybrid baby?" Caprica posed.

For a moment he was unresponsive and she was sure he'd passed out on her, or was at least ignoring the question in favor of letting sleep take over.

"Laura Rolsin is capable of many things," he eventually responded, his voice heavy with chemically induced fatigue. "And she surely didn't want it to be born...but in the end...that child was entirely too premature. The odds were against it the moment it was delivered. I don't guess she had time to do much of anything, still recovering herself at the time. Besides it had a hand in saving her life and she knew that. Roslin may not have wanted it around, but it died of natural causes as far as I'm concerned."

Caprica let out the breath she'd been holding. Hearing what Gaius believed about Hera gave her a sense of relief stronger than she'd imagined.

"Do you think this child will live?" she said looking over her shoulder to where he lay among the sheets.

"I'm a damned oracle now, am I?" he muttered, now noticeably irritated with her questioning.

"I'm just asking your opinion," she defended.

"Mother of advanced maternal age, placental issues, late prenatal care and subpar medical conditions," he rattled off in a grumbled list. "I'd say fat bloody chance, but the woman did flatline dead from a terminal illness in front of my eyes only to make a miraculous recovery within hours. For some reason the cosmic odds always seem to land in her frakking insufferable favor."

Caprica nodded in considerstion. There was something special about the woman. The Colonial's religion had once thought her a profit. Caprica held no value in their false idols, but she was starting to believe that the one true God had a special plan for Laura Roslin and her son too.

"He is a little miracle," she whispered with a smile. "She's quite blessed," she added, but no response came. "Giaus?" she called, turning to where he lay with his back to her.

She waited for a moment more before she heard his breathing turn into a light snore.

She sighed and took another look around their disheveled bedroom. She wondered who had been there with him mussing the sheets while she was gone. Perhaps D'Anna, she considered. Or perhaps instead he'd been alone just wasting the day away with booze and pills. She cringed not knowing which thought hurt more severely.

She'd been so eternally thankful to God for sparing him back on Caprica, for allowing her to find him again worlds away. For weeks it had been enough that he was alive and with her again but as time went on she'd begun to see more clearly. He wasn't the man she'd left on the colonies. He was broken and weakened and his heart was hardened. He constantly dulled his once sharp mind with any substance he could. He convinced her to let others into their bed, as if she weren't enough. His worst qualities remained the least damaged. She didn't understand what had become of him.

Her eyes began to prick with tears.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to hear her Caprica let herself cry.

NEW CAPRICA NORTH LAKE 2 KLICKS NW OF COLONIAL TENT CITY 2 WEEKS BEFORE CYLON OCCUPATION

"You don't seem yourself today, Bill," Laura observed. She held tighter to him as they sat atop the blanket they'd laid near the lake bank. She hoped the gentle squeeze would show that her remark was one of concern rather than accusation. "Did I do something to upset you?"

"No," he replied immediately. "No. Not at all. I'm very glad to be down here with you for a few days."

His response sounded sincere, but she was sure that something was bothering him. They'd come to know each other well enough to sense when when something was amiss, even when it went unspoken or unacknowledged.

"Oh...Well are you feeling alright?" she tested.

They'd hiked a good ways from the encampment and though they took their time she considered that perhaps it had been too much for him. Often she forgot what his body had been through in such a short amount of time. The daily stress of his position, the frakking gunshots to his chest.

Her recovery had been miraculous. Her body, crippled by disease, had healed so astoundingly that she felt even better than she had before her cancer ever began. It was extraordinary. It was wondrous. It was frakking unnatural. So often she had to remind herself that Bill hadn't the luxury of such an ineffable restoration. He'd been shot multiple times, his chest cut open to save his life and he'd healed by his own strength and will. Not with some strange divinely timed remedy. Sometimes she felt guilt for how completely she'd recovered, especially when she caught glimpses of the small but permanent effects of what Bill had been through. Why had she survived when she hadn't turned out to be what they'd all thought after all? Why did she feel so indefinably rejuvenated? Why her when they all needed Bill far more fiercely?

"Maybe we shouldn't have walked this far from the camp," she suggested.

"I'm fine, Laura," he insisted. "Physically I feel pretty good. Fresh air is always a treat."

He smiled at her and she felt her concern ease just a bit.

"If you're sure," she said returning his grin and nuzzling her face to his shoulder.

"I am, Laura. I like coming out here with you. Besides, I need to get a good feel for the land and the lake's tides so we can find the best spot for your cabin."

She hummed and gave him a nod as if she considered it a joke.

"I'm serious. I have a few rough drafts of a basic blueprint I'll show you when you come to Galactica next."

"Really?" she replied with a quizzical expression.

"I started them a few weeks ago. It's nothing too detailed yet. Helps to have time on my hands these days," he shrugged. "Don't you still want to build it?"

Laura looked at him for a moment, not with hesitation of her answer but with an astonishment that he wanted to help her see it through, that he had more plans for her future than she did herself.

"I do," she told him. "Very much so."

He nodded, pleased with her reply and for a while they sat quietly taking in the beauty of the lake, watching the funny looking turtle-like creatures clustered together by the reeds.

"I'm sorry if I seem a bit distracted, Laura," Bill eventually spoke.

"It's alright, Bill. We all have our days," she mused.

She wouldn't push him. Lords knew she hated when he did it to her and she was twice as unlikely to share a damn thing.

"Today," he began again, but paused with a ponderous swallow. "Today is my son's birthday."

His unexpected admission was laden with sadness and Laura's heart sunk with his words.

"Zak," she said in a whisper, knowing that the pain in his voice wouldn't have been evoked by thoughts of his living child.

He didn't respond but hung his head a bit at the sound of late son's name.

"I'm sorry, Bill. I had no idea. If I'd known I wouldn't have dragged you out here."

Bill shook his head in protest and forced a half smile.

"You didn't drag me," he told her. "We walked together, far as I can remember."

"You know what I mean."

"It's perfectly fine, Laura. I'm more than happy to be here with you," Bill pledged. "I just...can't get my mind off him today."

"Of course," she followed, sympathy and concern more than evident in her barely audible reply.

"He was a good boy," Bill said with pride. "Grew up to be a fine young man. Just…always find myself wondering what he'd be like, what else he would have done if his life hadn't been cut so short."

Laura placed her hand over his, knowing there was no comfort to be had when it came to such devastation but offering him her humble embrace.

"I used to wonder the same about my sisters," she shared in return, but she suddenly felt ashamed for the comparison. "I'm sorry, I know that's not the same. He was your child. That's unimaginable."

"Grief is what it is," Bill replied.

Laura's chest swelled and she looked out to the lake as if it's calming waters would ease the growing pressure.

"To be honest, Bill... I just don't know how you've survived it," she spoke softly, unable or unwilling to chance the stability of her voice. "I suppose still having Lee must help, but to lose a child...I lost my entire family in one night; my father, my sisters, my unborn nephew...I had a nervous breakdown, Bill," she confessed, though she wasn't sure how seriously he took her use of the term. "Honest to Gods, I was out of my mind. Lords if the press had ever found out about that…" she stopped herself, shaking her head with a sigh. "I recovered, with time it got easier, but had it been my child…" she faltered again. "Well, I suppose I can't truly say, not knowing what it's like to be a parent, but I don't imagine that I would have recovered from that. I feel like...like it would have ended me."

She clung tighter to his arm and shivered, not from the cold but from merely imagining his pain.

"In a way...it did," he told her. "Part of me anyway."

"Gods," she said with a tiny gasp.

Together they watched the lake in silence for a time. A bird swooped into the water for a fish, catching it and continuing on in one graceful movement.

"You got to know Lee pretty well, took him under your wing for a time," Bill spoke as the bird flew into the distance with its prize.

Laura let out a little hum.

"It was mostly the other way around," she mused. "He taught me more than I ever did him."

Bill chuckled softly remembering a time when their relationship had unnerved him. Now he was glad that Laura had formed her own bond with his son.

"It was always funny how different the two of them were. Zak was nothing like his big brother. Hardly even looked like brothers for that matter. Lee's all his mother and looking at Zak was like looking in a mirror of my past self."

"I've seen his photo in your cabin," Laura said with a smile. "Striking, just like his father."

"They had such different personalities," Bill continued. "And still, their bond was unbreakable. They loved one another. They were best friends until the day Zak died."

"That's something to be proud of I think," Laura considered.

"It was," Bill agreed. "No matter how either of them ever felt about me or their mother, I was always so glad that they had each other. Now...seeing Lee living without him...that's almost worse than losing him myself."

Laura rested her head upon Bill's shoulder.

"While I can't imagine your grief I know very well how Lee must feel. It's been years since the death of my sisters and sometimes I still can't get over that I'll never see them again," Laura said as she closed her eyes against the stinging of threatened tears. "You know when I recovered...I was angry for a time. I thought...I thought I was finally going to be reunited with them in death and instead I woke up alive...and it was just me again. Just me," she sighed. "Lee is very lucky to still have you, Bill, and I think he knows that even though he doesn't always show it. Believe me, no one wants to be alone in this world, no matter how much they might push others away. It's a heavy, sometimes crushing reality. For better or worse at this moment you two still have each other and deep down I believe Lee knows how precious that really is, especially now."

Bill nodded at her words and they fell quiet again for a spell. The air was growing cooler as the sun began to dip below the mountains in the late afternoon.

"You know, Laura," Bill said, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" Laura replied, a little lost in thought.

"You aren't alone anymore."

Laura froze at his statement. She remained silent giving only a slight nod as if she wasn't fully able to acknowledge his words.

"I mean that," he added.

Her eyes welled and a quivering smile started but failed to materialize on her face. She swallowed, cleared her throat and wiped away the few tears that escaped.

"Let's go back to my tent," she told him. "It'll be dark soon…We can light a candle for Zak," she suggested, finally able to offer him the warmth of a true smile.

Bill nodded, returning her smile and kissing her on the cheek.

"I'd like that, Laura."

NEW CAPRICA COLONIAL MEDICAL TENT 14 WEEKS POST CYLON OCCUPATION

A whirring whooshing sound filled the small curtained enclosure. Cottle's brows were knit as he stared at the screen of his machine.

"Is he okay?" Laura flinched as he increased the pressure of the probe that he'd been moving around her lower abdomen.

Cottle continued to move the device back and forth for a few silent moments, his expression remaining unreadable.

"In spite of it all, so far, yes," he finally answered. "Heart rate is normal. Growth is on course. We've got a fighter," he announced as he turned the screen with his free hand for Laura to get a better look.

"Gods," she gasped as she took in the staticy grayscale image, now very obviously starting to take the shape of a tiny human. "I just can't believe that's inside me."

"You'll feel it soon enough," the doctor reminded her as he diligently continued his scan. "I can't say for certain but there does seem to be a bit of placental migration."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that the placenta is still covering the cervix which is why you're still experiencing the episodes of heavy bleeding, but that it seems to have moved a bit since the first scan I gave you."

Cottle attempted to point out the area of concern on the screen, but aside from the bulbous head and curled up little body Laura couldn't make much else out.

"Is that good?"

"It will be if it keeps moving as the uterus expands. We need it to keep migrating until its no longer covering the cervix at all. As long as it's still overlapping you'll continue to bleed, be at an increased risk of placental abruption and delivery will be impossible without surgery."

Cottle hit a few buttons saving some still images to the harddrive.

"What can I do?" Laura asked.

It all felt so out of her hands and she felt so terribly guilty. She hadn't been taking care of herself. Only a few hours earlier her intentions had been so different.

"Nothing except rest when you can and keep hydrated. If this migration is any indication then the condition may very well clear itself up. Thankfully that's what happens in the majority of cases."

"It's my age that caused it?" she questioned.

Though he'd already confirmed as much once before she was habitually inclined to look for plausible reasons to blame herself.

Cottle sighed, his eyes still on the screen.

"Nothing caused it, Laura. You didn't do anything to make it happen. It's a random occurrence. It happens to teen mothers for frak sake. It just so happens it's more common in older mothers. We just have to continue to keep an eye on it."

Laura nodded, trying to commit the screen's image to memory. Cottle had already apologized for not being able to give her a copy. The machine's printing capabilities had long stopped working.

"Does it hurt him?" she posed, her brow suddenly furrowing with new worry.

"Not at all," Cottle assured. "And where did this confidence in the sex come from? It's a bit early to tell, especially with this old machine. Not to mention the fact that the bugger hasn't turned to give me a proper look once," the doctor complained as he made another attempt to scan and zoom in on the area.

"The Six," Laura shrugged with a small smile. "She told me it's a boy."

Cottle gave a short hum in return.

"They'd be able to tell from the amniotic sample they took," he presumed. "A third son for the Old Man, how bout that," he began to chuckle.

"Gods," Laura sighed. "I can't even imagine his reaction to all of this."

Cottle avoided responding to Laura's remark. He hardly knew what to say. His friend was long gone and though he had hope, he wouldn't falsely assure the mother of Bill's child that he was coming back.

With a grunt he removed the probe from Laura's belly relieving the pressure. He returned the device to the machine's holster and the screen went dark.

With a few clicks of some buttons Cottle quickly brought up one of the still images he had taken in order to give Laura one last look before they took the machine away.

"Anyhow, if the placental issue clears up within the next eight weeks or so we'll have a lot less to worry about," he assessed, glad that he had at least something positive to impart on his worried patient.

Laura pulled down her hospital gown to cover her exposed skin, chilled from the gel Cottle had used on the probe. She looked up to the screen to see the frozen image of her unborn son.

"I wish that were true," she whispered as she rested a protective hand over her belly.

The fact was that they would all have so much more to worry about if the child actually lived.

Thank you for reading. If you are enjoying this story and would like more content please let me know. I'll continue to do my best to post new chapters as long as there is interest.

best wishes and Good Hunting!