To anyone still waiting for updates to this WIP; I'm so sorry it has taken me almost a year between chapters. I had my 2nd child in October of 2021 and my focus has been on my infant daughter and my 6 year old son. I am just now starting to find some limited time to myself for hobbies. This chapter that was started over 10 months ago is just now able to be posted and I cant even promise that the quality is acceptable. I did my best on limited sleep and limited time with many interruptions, but I wanted to get it out before the story was deemed officially abandoned. I'd like to say the next chapter wont be as long of a wait and while I hope that's true I can't promise it will be soon. I do intend to finish. Please excuse any errors and know that I wish that I could dedicate more energy and time to editing.
Thank you to the readers who have checked in over this last year. My daughter is doing well and we are happy, though often exhausted!
Happy reading to all who are still interested.
NEW CAPRICAN COLONIAL TENT CITY; DWELLING OF SAUL & ELLEN TIGH
WEEK 24 OF CYLON OCCUPATION
"Ellen, what the frak happened to you?"
Sam had rushed over to the Tigh's tent as soon as he'd gotten word that Ellen finally returned.
Though he'd been relieved to see her he was no less ready to berate her for causing trouble and making them worry. He'd planned to lay into her for her reckless behavior but upon greeting her he'd found her looking frazzled, afraid and obviously bruised.
"Nothing. I'm fine. As long as you're here I could use a drink," she asked both to sway the subject and because her nerves were raw and in need of numbing. "Just a little one. Please be a doll and get me something."
Sam scowled at Ellen's dismissive response. She'd gone missing for hours, returned with a welt on her face and she was acting as if she'd gone out for a pleasant stroll by the creek.
"Where have you been, Elle?" he pressed on, scanning her up and down looking for any other signs of injury or distress.
"I went to find someone who would give me some frakking answers about Saul. I told you that."
"And?"
"And I…failed," she shrugged. "You were right. It was stupid. No one would talk to me."
"What happened to you?" Sam asked again, his concern and frustration rising in tandem. "Someone obviously hurt you."
"Sam, stop it," Ellen said with an apathetic wave of her hand and a dramatic eye roll. "No one touched me. I did this to myself."
"Looks a lot like you got socked in the face," he alluded, but she remained impassive.
Ellen looked around her tent, avoiding direct eye contact with Sam. Silly as it was sometimes she felt like he could see right through her, like he could somehow read her thoughts. Perhaps he just didnt let her get away with things the way Saul did.
She let out an exaggerated huff as she slumped her tired body down into one of the rickety kitchen chairs.
"How bout that drink?" she asked again.
Fed up, Sam begrudgingly went to where the couple kept their booze and poured Ellen a small glass of the last bottle he'd managed to bring them.
He sat down across from her at the small wooden table. Setting the cup between them he carefully slid it toward her.
"I'm still listening," he prompted.
Ellen put the drink to her lips and took it down in one long swig. She returned the now empty cup to the tabletop and slid it back toward him with a weak smile, a half-assed attempt to ask him for a refill. When he just continued to glare at her expectantly awaiting her response she finally let out a long breath and began her explanation.
"I was so upset walking around those Cylon buildings, Sam. I wasn't paying attention. Everything's half under construction. There's scaffolding everywhere. I walked right into a frakking pole," she told him in a manner that she thought seemed pretty damn convincing, but Sam's eyes still narrowed with suspicion.
"I feel like you're lying," he challenged, but Ellen shrugged it off, determined to stick with her story. She couldn't let the truth get back to Saul. Not only would he be furious at her for doing such a thing, he would no doubt want to retaliate in some way if he knew the One hit her. The last thing Ellen wanted was a reason for Saul to be more of a target than he already was.
"Well feel whatever way you want about it, Sam. I'm telling you what happened. Think I like feeling like a fool?"
Sam took a deep breath and let it go.
"You're sure no one talked to you? No one touched you?"
"Sam, I'm sure. If something happened don't you think I'd be more upset than this?" she posed. "All I can do is wait for Saul. That's it. I know. I just couldn't help trying this time."
Sam was stoic for a moment before finally nodding.
She couldn't tell if he believed her or not but at least he was accepting her answer and moving on.
"Listen, Sam sweetie," Ellen began, ready to speak honestly for the first time since she'd returned. "I'm sorry for what I said to you out there earlier," she continued sincerely. She'd regretted the remark she'd made about Kara when he'd tried to get her to return home. She'd said something intentionally hurtful just to make him leave her alone. Ellen felt for Sam. She knew his heart ached for his young wife and it had been cruel to bring up her abduction.
So few people were as kind and accepting toward Ellen as Sam Anders. She and Sam had just hit it off as if they'd known each other for ages. It was unlike her to see a hunky jock as anything more than eye candy and a fun flirt, but Ellen truly appreciated his friendship. She'd quickly stopped viewing him as just a firm body and killer smile. He understood her in a way that most never even tried to. "I didn't mean it. I was just-"
"Forget it, Elle. I know. Just never mind that."
She nodded, glad to drop the subject if he wanted.
"Is Laura still down there?" Ellen asked as she rose from her seat with a sigh. "I should probably go see her."
Sam winced. He'd been so relieved to finally know Ellen was back he'd almost forgotten Roslin and the Colonel were still gone.
"No, Elle-"
"Ya know, we need to get that mattress down there soon," she said, cutting him off and gesturing to where a used foam mattress was propped up on its side against the tent wall. Cottle had sent it over days before to be taken down to the bunker. "You can't just stash her away down there with only a chair and some crates to rest on anymore," Ellen rambled, unaware of Sam's unease. "We should start setting up something comfortable for her. Cottle wants it arranged in a specific way for delivery and if she's gunna be tossed down there every time there's a threat we might as well do it the way Doc wants it now so she can at least put her frakkin feet up," she continued.
"No, Ellen. Listen, she's not down there," Sam explained.
"She wouldn't go?" Ellen guessed, shaking her head. "She told me she would. Damn it. I mean does the woman want help or not?"
"No. No, I mean she's gone too. She never made it. After they took the Colonel they took her too."
COLONIAL ONE; OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
"They're going to keep taking her Gaius. She'll never be free of them now," Caprica said as she sat on the side of the bed rubbing at her temples.
"I bloody well told you that from the start. What can you do? You've tried, done as you've been asked. Move on," Gaius flippantly told her as he lay back in the bed shirtless and cleaning his nails with the point of her manicure file.
"You're not the least bit concerned about her?" the Six challenged. "About the child?"
After Roslin's last visit with Simon, Caprica was losing hope that she'd ever be able to convince the former president to trust her. Not only had Roslin remained obstinate and resistant to offers of assistance the entire time she was there, they'd also had a rather tense exchange before leaving the hospital. Caprica felt incredibly uneasy about the way Roslin had questioned her about her name. There was no solid accusation made but the women's interrogation had left Caprica feeling oddly exposed. She'd never felt that way in front of a human before.
"From what I surmise there's only one outcome here," Giaus reasoned. "Laura Roslin submits willingly to the cylons or she's taken forcibly. I know her just about as well if not better than anyone here and let me tell you she'd suffer the same either way."
Caprica shook her head.
"That can't be true. If she understood-"
"She does understand, you see?" Gaius
said sharply, finally giving her his total focus. "That's your problem, my dear. It's you who isn't grasping it. She knows good and well what your people want from her and from that baby she's carrying. You think that she'll decide to pick the lesser of two evils but there isn't one in her eyes. Willingly giving over her fate and the fate of her unborn child to the hands of her enemies will never be something that Laura Roslin preferes over being forced. You've misunderstood your charge, I'm afraid," he finished as he went back to examining his fingernails.
"I just don't understand why she would choose to be taken under duress rather than peacefully agreeing," Caprica argued. "If there is no alternative, why put herself through the distress?"
Gaius snorted in amusement as he bit at a hangnail.
"Pride, bravery, stubbornness, integrity, anger, spite," he listed. "Could be any number of those reasons. I've witnessed her willingness and capability to endure suffering. Trust me if the outcome is the same she'll do it bravely, perhaps even stubbornly, but she'll not submit like a gutless coward," he finished before crudely spitting a piece of fingernail off the side of the bed.
Caprica frowned, discouraged and disgusted. The man she'd known back on the Colonies had never been so crass, so uncaring. She'd once felt so privileged to share his bed. Now more often than not she lay awake at night beside him with a heavy heart feeling as if he were still lightyears away.
"I just wish there was some way that I could ease her mind about this. I wish I could prove to her that this would benefit her people as much as mine. If she could understand what a gift this child is then maybe that would sway her. Maybe her conscience would take over and she'd be able to understand what good could come of this."
"She doesn't believe that," Giaus said with a yawn. "Besides, what do you plan to do with the boy that could possibly serve humans?"
"There's many things we could learn from such a child."
"I'll tell you what you should be doing with him, or at lea-" Baltar paused midthought and stared off for a moment in sudden realization. "Caprica," he said, focusing his newly energized attention back on his lover, "you should let me speak with her."
"No. No, Gaius she hates you," she said shaking her head.
"Yes, right, they all do," he dismissed, "but listen to me; I know the one thing that might get through to her. The one aspect of this child's possible benefit that might behoove her to allow testing on him for the good of humankind."
"Then tell me! Gaius, I don't think that you should speak with her at all. You'll likely only upset her more and she doesn't need that."
"Oh, I'm sure she much rather prefers your masked police force," Gaius mocked, as he rolled his eyes at her deluded logic.
"That's not what I mean. Besides, I'm worried that if she sees you and then sees me again it will jog her recognition. I don't know if she suspects yet, but if she's able and she eventually recognizes me as the Six she saw on Caprica with you then I'll never be able to speak with her again."
Caprica decided not to mention the way Laura seemed a little too interested in the origin of her name.
"And so what?" Gaius contended. "I'm already Colonial enemy one and you are getting nowhere fast, my darling. I think it's time for you to throw in the proverbial towel, don't you? Besides, it's absurd to think that she can tell one cylon from the next. There's no evidence of that and furthermore who's to say that she ever really saw us back then!? Who's to say that wasn't just the delusional ramblings of a dying woman?!"
"I just want to make sure that John and the others keep their word that the child will be kept from any harm or distress."
"And you don't trust them?" Gaius tested. "What about Boomer?"
Caprica bit at her lip.
She wanted so much to still trust Sharon after all that they'd gone through together but there was a distance between them now. As she'd come to spend more and more time with Gaius after arriving on New Caprica she supposed Boomer had felt abandoned in a way. She'd moved in with Gaius right away and quickly became so absorbed in having him again that everything else had just faded away for a while. In her absence Sharon had found a new place at John's side and he was all too glad to take advantage of the Eight's desire to be needed and accepted.
When Caprica first arrived on the new planet she'd had the man she loved and a sister whom she felt connected to in a way that went beyond their software. Now she was beginning to feel the deep familiar ache of loneliness once again.
"I believe she still wants what's best for both human and cylon alike."
"Right," Gaius replied, sounding both unconvinced and uninterested.
"Will you tell me, Gaius? What is it that you think could change Roslin's mind?"
Baltar pondered her request for a drawn out moment before turning on his side to face her.
"Well, I did save her life using fetal hybrid blood. I cured her during the last stages of an aggressive cancer. Her child may be able to do the same, or at least teach us how. He's not a hybrid, but theoretically with his cylon altered DNA there's a chance he holds the cure for colonial cancers within him. If Laura understood that her child could potentially save hundreds of colonials from suffering, from death- a death that she came face to face with herself, well then it's possible that her self righteousness and moral superiority might take over. It might move her to agree to pay forward the gift of a second chance at life that she was given."
CYLON ADMINISTRATION BUILDING; OFFICE OF JOHN CAVIL
"So tell us, Four," Cavil said as he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. "Sharon here has informed us that you made some interesting findings during Laura Roslin's last examination. Go on and share with the class. What's this child have in store for us?"
Simon scanned the room looking at Sharon, D'Anna and Caprica before turning his attention back to John. Something about it the way he almost seemed dismissive of their attendance bothered Caprica.
"Well, that's the thing, this time my findings didn't have much to do with the fetus," the Four began. "In fact we've hit a wall where the baby is concerned. We have the amniotic sample to analyze but there's only so much we can do without a direct blood sample."
"Can't ya take one?" Cavil shrugged.
"No!" Caprica interjected.
She wasn't exactly sure what such a thing would entail but just the thought of it sounded awful.
"Yes," Simon answered, mostly ignoring the Six's outburst. "Technically we could, but it's a risk to the integrity of the pregnancy. She doesn't have long to go. I'd recommend waiting until the child is delivered."
Caprica let her shoulders fall in relief.
"Fine," Cavil said, taking his feet from his desk and sitting upright in his chair. "So if you don't have any news for me about the kid then what's this all about?"
"It's about Roslin herself," Simon announced.
"You said she was doing well," Caprica worriedly interrupted again. "You told her she was healing and that the pregnancy was progressing right on track. Wasn't that true?"
Simon paused and looked over at her in annoyance. Her hovering presence at Roslin's exams was odd enough but he felt that her recent behavior was becoming increasingly problematic. Though customarily all issues were discussed as a group the traditional practice was becoming less and less respected as the days went on. Simon decided that this time he would speak to Cavil outside of his sister's company.
"Yes. It is," he answered, redirecting his attention to the One. "She's in surprisingly good health. In fact better than she should probably be and I'm beginning to think that's all part of it."
"Part of what?" Boomer scowled as she perched herself on the side of Cavil's desk and crossed her arms.
Caprica and D'Anna both took note of the overtly familiar manner Sharon had adopted toward the One. Neither could be sure that it wasn't just habit from the more perfunctory human ways she'd been used to or if there was something more to it, but without a glance they each knew the other was contemplating the same question.
"We've been so interested in the biology of the child due to the cylon DNA found in the amniotic fluid," Simon went on to explain. "I believe we've overlooked the effects that the hybrid's transfusion had on Roslin herself. Effects other than curing her illness."
"Her name was Hera," Sharon said with some restrained ire in her voice, but only Caprica nodded in subtle sympathy.
"How so?" D'Anna asked Simon.
"Well, it changed her DNA."
"We knew this," Cavil said with his brows lowered in disappointment. "Didn't we? I mean how else would she have passed it down to the child?"
"We knew it," Simon confirmed with a nod, "but we never really stopped to see how her DNA changed. We got to thinking about the series of events that began with her cure and led us to her current state. To me, it seems like not only did her cancer disappear due to the introduction of cylon DNA into her system, but other things seem to have been repaired or restored as well. I believe the pregnancy is going well because of this and despite the complications and the many other aspects which should make her a high risk case."
"I'm not sure what any of that means," Boomer said, feeling as though she wasn't keeping up with the Four's explanation. "So what? She heals fast?"
"Yes, as fast as we do it would seem," Simon confirmed. "Not only that but I have a theory that the pregnancy only occured because of the cylon restorative and rejuvenating qualities she's taken on."
"Theory?" Cavil glowered. "So there's no proof? This is just your guess?"
"Roslin's blood cells are no longer shaped like those of a Colonial human's."
"She's got cylon blood cells?" D'Anna presumed.
"No. They aren't shaped like our synthetic cells either," Simon corrected. "They seem to be unique to her alone."
There was silence for a moment after the Four's statement. It sure seemed significant but no one knew why.
"So?" D'Anna finally prompted, close to losing her patience with the entire meeting.
"So the particular way these cells are shaped makes them able to receive and join with cylon and human blood cells alike," Simon described. "They bind flawlessly with either. Sort of like a universal receptor. Think of the way humans have different blood types and can only receive donor blood from someone who's a match. This could be interesting for a number of reasons but it also raises a lot more questions."
"Like what other cylon attributes does Roslin have that we don't know about?" Boomer added. "Maybe she recognized me after all."
"Exactly," Simon agreed. "I mean there may be nothing. Blood cells shouldnt have much impact on the receptors in the brain but it's worth looking into, I think."
"Well, this is all very interesting," Cavil said as he swiveled his chair left to right and back again.
"I would say so," Simon asserted.
"You'll prepare the necessary tests?" Cavil said with a presumptive nod.
"After she gives birth!" Caprica piped in, stepping forward.
"You know you're a real pain in the ass these days, Six," Cavil scowled at her outburst.
"There's no use in compromising the child," she contended in a softer tone, knowing that her fervour was less than appreciated and starting to ruffle feathers.
"After is preferable," Simon begrudgingly concurred. "Roslin would need imaging, brain scans, nerve conduction tests. It isn't safe for the child."
Cavil rolled his eyes.
"Fine, after. Now moving on-"
"Wait! What about what I proposed before?" Caprica reminded the room, flinching when they collectively seemed to huff and sigh in annoyance. Before Simon ever started his medical report she'd asked about letting Gaius speak to Roslin and she'd been mostly ignored. "You still haven't answered me. I'd like Gaius to have a talk with her."
"I'm sorry but all indications are that she hates his bloody guts," D'Anna reminded her brothers and sisters. "Why should we let him speak to her?"
"Because he's saved her life before and at least he's human," Caprica argued.
"A human traitor as she sees it," Boomer amended. "Only thing Roslin hates more than a toaster is a human siding with them. Bad idea."
"I'm going to have to side with Three and Eight here," Cavil concluded. "Sorry, Six."
"You're not listening," Caprica charged.
"I think we heard you loud and clear," D'Anna said with a shrug. "I think it's time we stop this silly expectation that Roslin might willingly allow her son to be studied under the hands of cylons. If we need him, we'll just take him. That goes for her too."
"And when we do, the Colonials will become even more resistant," Caprica countered. "This is what we're trying to stop."
"How much worse could it get?" Simon posed. "We've had bombings every day this week!"
"I know Chief and I know the Colonel," Boomer stressed. "They can and will make it worse if they need to."
"The entire point of this child should be the unification of both races!" Caprica shouted in frustration. "I mean isn't that why we came here? Sharon?" she said looking at her sister who had helped her to lead their race toward the goal of integration. Caprica had at one time felt so close to the disillusioned Eight. She trusted then that she had truly wanted humans and cylons to live together in peace, but she wasn't as sure now. "Isn't that what we want? If Roslin could come to publicly accept that and willingly and gladly show the good that has come from her child's link to the cylons it would do more for human cylon relations than we have managed to do since we got here. This can go one of two ways. One of those ways could potentially have very positive effects and the other guarantees only negative repercussions for both races. Why not at least keep trying for the more peaceful possibility until we're certain there's no other way?"
"We could try again, fine," Cavil said, throwing his arms up in mock defeat. "But I still say Baltar is a bad idea."
"I don't know," Sharon said, shaking her head.
"Boomer, listen to me," Caprica said as she moved closer toward the Eight, "you lived among them. You know how horribly humans with cancer suffer, how it leaves families in agony. It's a terrible disease that comes with their humanity. You've seen the money and time and effort that was put toward treatments and research for a cure back on the Colonies. Roslin suffered and almost died before she was given a cure. Gaius was the one who found it. If her son holds the key to the cure for every human suffering the way she did, do you really think she'd deny her people that chance?"
Sharon chewed at her bottom lip. It wasn't a terrible proposition but more pressing was the sudden guilt she felt rising within herself as she looked into the Six's eyes.
"I suppose maybe if he just explained it to her…"
"Yes!" Caprica exclaimed with a smile before Boomer could finish. "I think he might really get through to her."
"I think it's a waste of time but fine, Six." Cavil relented, swayed by Boomer's change of opinion. "Do it. But after this if we can't get her to agree to cooperate with us, I'm done trying. When the time comes close, we'll take her and her baby either way. The people can revolt if they wish. This child's potential is far too important to ignore in order to avoid pissing off the masses."
"Thank you," Caprica told him with a mix of relief and excitement.
"Then take a few centurions and escort her to Baltar's office, Six," he instructed.
"Now?" She inwardly cringed. "I just escorted her home from the hospital. Shouldn't she have a day or so to rest?"
"Now, Six," Cavil firmly directed. "You're not her nurse."
Caprica's jaw tightened and she straightened her already statuesque posture.
"Fine."
COLONIAL ONE; OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
"How are you, Laura? Really?" Baltar inquired from the seat of his desk.
Laura sat opposite him, still unnerved from being removed from her tent by the Six yet again. She'd been out of the cylon hospital for less than twenty four hours when Caprica had returned. When she'd found out it was going to be a visit with Baltar instead of the detention center or the cylon hospital Laura didn't know whether to be relieved or not. She was tired and her nerves were shot. Gaius Baltar was the last person Laura felt like updating on her wellbeing.
"Are you actually going to attempt small talk?" she answered, "Because if that's what you brought me here for I have no interest-"
"Laura, please stop," he interrupted. "I brought you here out of concern. Concern for you, for your child. I saved your life once, and in the nick of time I might add. I hope you understand that I wouldn't want to bring you any harm now."
Laura gripped the arms of her chair.
"You've brought us all enough harm to last a lifetime!" she accused.
"That is not true!," Baltar shouted, shooting up to his feet and sending his chair a foot backward. "It just isn't true!"
"Look around, Giaus, what the frak do you see!? Or are you so sheltered here in this frakking hole you've made for yourself that you truly have no idea!?" she sneered in return.
"I made the only choice I could, and you know it," he fanatically professed while pacing in the small space behind his desk. "What the frak would you have done, Laura? What would you have done if you'd still been in office when the cylons came? If they'd put a gun to your head and gave you no other option? Please tell me!?"
"You forget that I would have never put us in the position to be trapped like sitting ducks on this godsforsaken planet!"
"Stop it! Just stop it!" Baltar demanded with his fingers pressed to his temples. He had to stop himself. The cylons had given him a task. If he pushed Roslin even further away they would no doubt fault and punish him accordingly. "This isn't why I asked you here today! Certainly not. Let's just both stop! Please?" he beseeched.
"I wanted to check on you," he continued in a more collected and docile tone. "See if I could help in any way."
"You're working with the cylons. Your help is the last thing I need," Laura replied, rolling her eyes at his dramatic display.
How could she have lost the election to someone so obviously unhinged?
"I am working alongside them to ensure the best possible outcome for humankind considering the circumstances," Baltar rectified. "You've seen what resistance does, what opposition does. It only brings more death."
"So you've given up," Laura caustically added. "How admirable. Truly you are a brave and noble leader."
Baltar's temper nearly surged again at her sarcasm but he quickly tempered himself, sure that they were probably being watched.
He took his seat again and slid it back into place behind his desk.
"I've chosen to do what I can to work toward a peaceful existence."
Laura's mouth opened to reply but she stopped herself and her reactive response died on her lips. She sighed and let her shoulders fall in resignation. She wouldn't fight with this man who was incapable of admitting his own wrongdoings. She had little energy to spare and he didn't deserve any of it. Gods knew that she would need every bit of it to get herself through the rest of the day.
"Gaius, I'm fine," she calmly told him. "May I go now?"
"No, not yet. Laura, please listen to me," Baltar said, leaning forward in his seat. "As a former colleague, as someone with a mutual desire for the preservation of our people, please, may we speak civilly for just a moment?"
Laura remained silent as her eyes scanned her former office. It smelled of smoke and of perfume covering up lingering body odor. The air was warm and stuffy. It hardly felt familiar at all.
She gave a slight nod, relenting to his plea.
"I've gone over the results of the baby's amniotic analysys," the Doctor began but at the mention of her son he saw Roslin's eyes flare in anger. "Please let me finish," he said before she could stop him. "You must believe me, I was as shocked as anyone else. And- and I know that you must blame me for this."
"Blame you? Giaus, I give you no credit toward the existence of this child," Laura nearly hissed.
Baltar gulped down some air. He had a foggy, drug dulled memory of Caprica telling him not to make that very implication. She'd warned him that it would only further Roslin's frustrations toward him.
"Right," Giaus replied before leaning back in his chair to make some distance between them. "Even so. I'm sorry that I failed to predict some of the implications of your cure. Time was of the essence. Once you were well again, well…I suppose as a scientist I should have followed up and monitored for any lasting side effects or changes. I shouldn't have left you in the hands of only a general practitioner. Perhaps then I would have noticed the altered DNA," he considered, "but even so, you have to understand that there would have been no way that I could have ever predicted that there would be cause for concern over passing it down. I mean-"
"I know what you mean, Gaius," Roslin snapped, cutting off his babbling. "What's your point?"
"I only wish you'd been better informed, is all," he finished.
Roslin arched a brow and shrugged.
"Wouldn't have changed anything. As you said, no one would have predicted."
"Yes, but perhaps we should have been looking forward after you survived. Looking at what that survival truly meant, I mean."
Roslin's eyes narrowed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your cure, Laura. The hybrid baby. The fetal blood that saved your life. It was one life saved when perhaps if things had been different it could have been many."
Laura felt her chest and cheeks flush over the mere mention of the hybrid child.
"What do you mean?"
"We have X survivors still with us," Baltar went on, "Many have fallen ill with some sort of cancer or another since leaving the colonies. Some, like you, came sick and are still struggling to survive. There will be more after them, and more still after. If only the Agathon baby had survived, perhaps she could have been the key to saving the lives of more than just the woman who most wanted her gone."
Laura's teeth clenched together like a vice as her blood ran hot.
"Are you implying that I had anything to do with that child's death?" she said as her anger threatened to boil over.
How dare he suggest that she would try to kill her beloved little Isis.
How dare he remind her that if her orders had gone through the child would never have been born.
Her rage mixed with months old shame and her eyes stung with the threat of tears.
Though Laura still understood why she had made that call at the time she couldn't help that it haunted her in the back of her mind on late nights as she held and rocked the little girl to sleep.
"No. No, of course not. I don't believe that at all, but I can't ignore the fact that had she not saved your life before her birth that you would have."
Laura's brow rose.
"Where are you going with this, Gaius?"
"Laura, she may be gone, but you carry some of her DNA and now so does your baby and it seems to be manifesting in him in a very interesting way."
"This baby is not a hybrid!"
"No. No he isn't. But he may be the closest we'll see again in our lifetime and he may be the answer to ending the suffering of hundreds and saving a significant percentage of a dwindling human population," Giaus continued, hoping his advocacy seemed as impassioned as it should have been considering the implications.
His theory was actually plausible. It should have truly excited him as a scientist and yet he felt nothing inside other than the lingering buzz from the substance he'd taken to fuel his performance.
"His mother once suffered from an awful illness, only to be saved by a seemingly miraculous cure. Now he exists and he could be the answer to stopping the suffering of so many others."
Laura sat still as Baltar paused, no doubt waiting for her response to his appeal. She said nothing as she looked back at him. Her jaw was set firm as could be and her eyes narrowed with suspicion at his display as if he were an old Vergonian traveling snake oil salesman making his pitch.
"Laura, you don't want the cylons examining him, but you fail to realize what they are trying to achieve," he continued when she failed to reply. "Had they come here just to kill us we would all be long dead. They want us to survive and thrive together. If their doctors could figure out how to cure one of our people's most plaguing diseases it would only further their cause for a positive coexistence."
Laura internally raged over the implication of any intent to coexist in peace. What an absurd claim.
"If this child can help humans then let it be left to human doctors," she finally returned.
"Oh come on!" Baltar mocked in frustration. "You can't be that delusional! I mean really, Laura. That's never been you. You know that any Colonial doctors left are in no dposition to conduct such research. The cylons have the means, have the equipment and the facility and they are willing. Don't tell me you'd leave others to suffer and die out of spite?"
"Haven't you?" she swiftly and bitterly rebutted.
"No. No, Laura. No matter what you may think of me, that isn't the case. I did what I thought best for my people. There was little other choice. We have to live within our current reality."
Laura had so much to say, so much that she could berate his smug traitorous face with. He made her blood boil, but she wanted to leave more than she wanted to fight. She needed to get out of the stuffy ship that now reeked of stale smoke and sex. He was obviously just doing more bidding for the cylons. The less she said the faster she could leave.
"Please consider this," Baltar began again. "No harm is to come to this child. Nothing more than a few pin pricks that he'll never remember. Nothing more than a few occasional exams and scans, all which would ensure his optimal health in the meantime. And as much as you resent me, I want you to know that I would be as involved as I could. I was the one who realized the possibility after all," he boasted, though he was unsure if the cylons would ask or even allow him to help with any aspect of it at all. "I'm not sure if that makes things better or worse for you, but if you're worried that a cure for a human illness would be procured by only machines then at least you might take some solace in knowing that one colonial scientist would be involved, even if it is me. Why should any suffering continue which doesn't have to?"
"I ask myself that every day," Laura answered honestly.
Giaus scowled and looked away from her impassive face.
"Laura, why did you keep this baby?" he asked with an almost accusatory tone."We all know Doc Cottle would jump through a ring of fire for you. Let's not act as if you had no choice."
Laura felt her cheeks start to burn.
As she looked at Giaus Baltar there and then she hated him more than she ever had. Not just because of his role in the cylon occupation but for being the one person who had dared to look her in the eye and ask her what she continued to ask herself every night before she slept and every morning when she opened her eyes. She hated him because his question was one she repeatedly contemplated within. She hated him because she had to look at his sanctimonious little face staring at her as if he actually expected an answer. As if she would ever share what had led to her own failure of rationale, her own self endangerment. As if he could ever understand the feelings of loneliness and grief she'd endured for years on end, the feeling of being so close to death and so alone, known by all and loved by none. As if he could understand it all and then wrap his selfish mind around being given something to fill that bitter empty feeling for the rest of her days, being given the chance of never being alone again, of being loved and having someone to love, then having to choose whether to destroy it or hold on to it. How dare he ask her such a thing, how dare anyone. He'd never been in her position and he never would be. Genius may he be, he had no capacity to even understand what he was asking.
"Whatever your reasoning, whatever drove you to take this risk…let it serve as much good as possible, Laura," he posed.
She needed to go. She needed to leave before she reached out and slapped him across his self-serving cowardly little face.
"Is that all, Mr. President?" she asked, keeping her tone as cold as ice.
Baltar shook his head and leaned back in his chair.
"Be careful out there, Laura," he said in resignation. This wasn't his fight and he'd done what they'd asked. "They'll come for you again soon enough."
"And Colonel Tigh?"
"As I understand it he was released a few hours ago," he informed her. "'Please consider what I've said. Somewhere there's a woman in that city of tents suffering from the same illness that almost took your life. She's in pain and she's afraid and Cylon occupation or not she probably wants to live. You got that chance. She'll likely die before anything can be done to save her, but you and your son may hold the key to saving those who fall ill after her."
NEW CAPRICAN COLONIAL TENT CITY; DWELLING OF SAUL & ELLEN TIGH
WEEK 24 OF CYLON OCCUPATION
"Frak, Saul. I'm so glad you're back," Ellen repeated for about the tenth time since her husband had returned to their tent escorted by two New Caprican police and a bullethead.
Saul was exhausted and weary. He hadn't slept in days. His vision was fuzzy and his eyes were over sensitive after spending days in the near darkness of his cell. He squinted even in the soft light that filtered into their tent by a small opened flap.
"What happened to you?" he said, getting his first good look at his wife.
"Nothing. Nothing," she insisted, going in for another hug. "I'm fine."
Saul gently pushed her back, holding on to her forearm with one gloved hand and lifting her chin with the other to get a better look at her face in the light.
"Your cheek…"
"I ran into a pole," she lied. "I was so upset I ran down to the detention building and I wasn't looking I guess. I'm fine though," she told him with a smile that she hoped seemed genuine.
"Damn it, Ellen. Don't go down there. You stay here when they take me! There's not a damn thing you can do about it when I'm there. I don't need to be in there worried you'll get yourself hurt or in some kind of damn trouble."
"I'm sorry. I am. I'm just so glad you're here."
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yes. For frak sake, yes. What about you?"
"Little sore from when they roughed me up and hauled me off but other than that I'm just tired," he lied in turn.
"Sleep," Ellen insisted. "Sleep and I'll see what I can make for supper so it's ready when you wake up."
"Naw. I'll sleep later. Anders should be by any second. We've got some business to discuss."
Ellen nodded in acceptance. He wouldn't listen to her, not when it came to resistance matters.
"Saul, you might as well know now," Ellen said with a sigh. "They took Laura."
"Godsdamn it!" he swore.
"She's already been returned," Ellen quickly added. "but she was taken the same time as you were. I tried to convince her to go to the bunker. She didn't want to at first but then she agreed."
"You were there when they took her?"
"No. No, I'd already left."
"I asked you to bring her here, Ellen," Saul said, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to. She was being so damn stubborn and I know you think it was the wrong thing to do, but all I could think of was getting to where they brought you. She said she would go. It's not as if I could have stopped them, Saul. I'd like to help her but she isnt my frakking priority. You are! What am I supposed to do? Fight off cylons for her with my bare hands!?"
Saul grimaced and let out his breath.
"No. No, I know that, Elle," he said, pulling her into another hug. "It's okay. You did good."
NEW CAPRICA: COLONIAL MEDICAL TENT
"What if he is the key to curing human cancers?"
Laura sat on the edge of the hospital bed already dressed and ready to go.
"Don't tell me you let that bozo get into your head. There's no evidence of that," Cottle contended.
"But…the hybrid child…" Laura began, but she let the thought go, unwilling to talk about Hera in the clinic with nothing but thin curtains for privacy.
"That's not the same thing," the doctor argued. "Laura, your child is human. Human mother, human father. All of those cylon ideas about this child are theoretical and most likely false."
"They want him badly enough…"
"They want to use him," Cottle contended. "Not to help anyone. They want to get to you, to manipulate a population who still looks to you for guidance. This is nothing more than a tactic meant to instill fear in you and convince you that you somehow need them."
"I know you're probably right but…if he could help…"
"If you're at all convinced that this child is some kind of beacon of wellness then do all that you can to protect him from the cylons so we can all live long enough to get back to the Fleet and have human doctors and scientists evaluate him."
Laura couldn't help but ruminate over Baltar's words. She had no intention of cooperating with the cylons but the proposal that her child could somehow hold the key to a cure for cancer was something she just couldn't get out of her head. She'd watched it kill her grandmother, then her aunt. Later it took her mother who had fought like hell trying to beat it and lost. Eventually, as she'd always feared and expected, it had come for her too. She carried a gene mutation long known to Colonial scientists to increase the risk of aggressive breast cancers. Now if he survived she'd be passing that gene down through her son to any future descendants.
She knew of the terror, the pain and the sadness that went with a cancer diagnosis. Leaving others to suffer when she was potentially carrying the key to their only hope was something she wasn't sure that she could live with. She didn't trust the cylons or Baltar but the possibility would be another brick on her back.
"You're right, " Laura relented.
"Fine," Cottle said with a nod. "Now that we've settled that nonsense, I want you to cut back on school days from here on out."
"More than I already have?" She said with a sigh so heavy with exhaustion that the doctor wondered how she had the energy left to even protest. "Why? I thought you said the condition had cleared up. You said he looks healthy."
Cottle was actually amazed at how well Laura was doing. At her age and with the state of their life on New Caprica he had been braced for the worst, especially with the placental complication she'd already endured. But she'd gotten through it so far and so had her baby. The bleeding had subsided. She had no signs of preeclampsia or diabetes; both highly common in expectant mothers in her age bracket. She was more than stressed, sleep deprived and undernourished and yet in spite of it all the pregnancy was proceeding remarkably well. It wasn't as if it was unheard of. Being a physician he knew plenty of career women back on the Colonies who had their children later in life, but they'd done it in the comfort of large cities with top of the line amenities and worlds class healthcare at every he wondered if Laura's endurance was more telling than her ailments. He wanted to assure her that there was nothing to the cylon altered DNA that she'd possesed since her cure, but he had to wonder now and then if it hadn't had something to do with the conception of her baby and her body's ability to tolerate the pregnancy with minimal negative effects. On the other hand he could recall his mother telling stories of women back in the old country on Leonis; her little village where the women seemed to remain fertile well into middle age. Women who were helping to deliver their grandchildren when they still had rounded bellies of their own. Those women had no cylon DNA, no fancy medical facilities, just good hearty genes. Perhaps that was all there was to it where Laura Roslin was concerned. There was nothing for him to do about it either way, nothing that would change the way he was treating her at least. Reinforcing her worries about it would do more harm than good and so he kept his own speculations to himself.
"It did clear up and he does look healthy. It's not that. You just haven't put on as much weight as I'd like. It was fine at first but at this stage I would have liked to see more of an increase. It's not your fault. I know there's not a whole lot to eat around here. You've been doing as well as you can, but let's try and limit your activity and see if that helps. If you're not walking back and forth to the school as much and you eliminate a day a week spent on your feet teaching we can decrease the amount of calories burned."
"I'm not sure I can arrange that immediately. I'll need a week to figure it out."
"Do it as quickly as you can. In the meantime, don't skip any meals."
"The cylons, they keep offering me food and a comfortable bed every time they take me, as if it's some kind of gift instead of just basic human rights."
Cottle let out a sardonic snort and took a cigarette from behind his ear.
"Yeah, well next time, take the frakkin food and then get out of there."
NEW CAPRICAN TENT CITY;TYROL TENT: 26 WEEKS SINCE CYLON OCCUPATION
"Ellen's a little shaken this time. More so than usual," the Colonel told the Chief as they sat sipping gutrot in the Chief's tent.
"Yeah. Yeah, we noticed," Tyrol nodded. "She told you what she did after you were taken, right?"
Saul took a sip from his cup and winced.
"She said she went looking for someone to talk to. Said she went to the detention center and then their admin building but no one would talk to her. Then she ran home," he went on. "Sam went after her. He lost track of her for a while." Saul cleared his throat and shrugged. "Said she went back to our tent after a while."
Upon Saul's return home Ellen had admitted that she'd gone after him. As far as Saul was concerned she'd been honest with him.
"Did you notice her face, Colonel?" Tyrol tested.
They still suspected something more had happened to Ellen. Something she wasn't being honest about.
"What am I, blind?" Saul said with some irritation. "She said she ran into a pole."
"Just want to make sure she told you the same thing she told us. Sam thought she seemed rattled over more than you being locked up. We just want to make sure that no one hurt her. We're still retaliating in response to each abduction and assault."
"Good. Keep it up," the Colonel told him. "but nobody hurt Ellen."
NEW CAPRICAN COLONIAL TENT CITY; DWELLING OF LAURA ROSLIN;
WEEK 26 OF CYLON OCCUPATION
"Laura?" Maya called as she leaned into the tent, Isis in her arms.
"C'mon in," Laura answered from where she sat at the edge of her mattress.
Maya came in with a smile but her heart hurt to see Laura's exhausted frame sitting hunched on her bed alone; her thin hands pulling her bulky sweater around herself as if it could protect her from more than just the cold.
"I'm going down to the marketplace. I just wanted to see if I could bring you anything."
Laura sighed as she watched Isis wiggling in Maya's arms.
"I'm so sorry I can't take her while you go."
They'd decided weeks before that it was no longer safe for Laura to watch the baby on her own. There was no telling when the Cylons would show up and the last thing she wanted was for Hera to be taken with her.
"It's alright, Laura. I've told you ten times."
"I know," Laura said with a sad nod.
"Besides, I wouldn't leave her with you these days anyway. She's crawling everywhere and you need your rest. And she'll get some fresh air running errands with me. It's good for her. It's fine."
"I miss her," Laura admitted in a whisper.
Maya tilted her head to the side.
"She's right here, Laura," she told her with a sweet reassuring smile as she walked over and shifted Hera into Laura's arms.
Laura closed her eyes and smiled as the child settled in her arms and rested her head to her shoulder. She felt the baby begin to kick low in her belly and for a moment she wondered if the two little souls could sense one another.
"See?" Maya assured. "You can see Isis whenever you want. She's right here and so am I. We aren't going anywhere."
Laura gently rocked Hera back and forth.
"As much as I wish you'd take her away from this mess, I do appreciate that."
"Of course," Maya said with a genuine and sweet smile.
Laura continued to rock Hera in her arms. She fought to keep her breathing steady as the precious feeling of the little one in her arms overwhelmed her with emotion.
Laura had lost her family long before the end of the worlds and after the exodus she didn't have anyone left to even call a distant relative. She'd made Billy check the Fleet records half a dozen times. Not even a third or fourth cousin to be found. Then suddenly through some miraculous act of science and fate she'd come to share blood with the child in her arms and it had saved her life and restored her spirit. No one would ever know how much that meant to Laura. How connected it had made her feel to the tiny girl.
She thanked the Gods every day that Maya had been so receptive to her acts of friendship and so willing to help with the New Caprican school. She could have just as easily moved on, taken her adoptive daughter to another part of the encampment and kept to herself. Laura had always supposed that Maya felt indebted to her, as if she owed her something. Perhaps it was why she'd been so agreeable to living so close together and to taking a position as a teacher. It was as if she couldn't deny a thing Laura asked of her.
Laura supposed she should feel guilty that the young woman felt so obliged, but she was just so thankful that Hera was so close by.
At first she'd told herself that it was in order to keep an eye on the hybrid child, that she had to keep tabs on her growth and her development to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary about her became too obvious, but eventually Laura was just thankful to be near her. She would never be able to explain the connection she felt to her. It was almost as if it was beyond human emotion. Something out of her control had bound them together. She saw Hera in her dreams. She hurt when the child was in pain, cried when the child was afraid. As guilty as it made her feel Laura recognized that often she felt more driven to protect Hera than the baby inside of her. The Gods had bound them together. Not Giaus Baltar's science, something divine.
"We'll be back shortly," Maya promised. "I'll make the three of us some supper. Or I suppose I should say the four of us," she said with a playful wink.
"Thank you, Maya," Laura said as she kissed the top of Hera's head and passed her back.
"I'll get what I can. I know Cottle wants you to get a little more meat on your bones."
Laura rolled her eyes.
"I'm not sure anyone's able to do that these days."
"Speaking of bones, maybe Ellen Tigh can make you that broth again," Maya suggested.
Laura shook her head.
"I can't ask her that. Saul was just brought back. They have their own problems."
"Well maybe she can give me the instructions and I can do it," Maya suggested.
Laura gave her a tired but grateful smile.
"Maybe."
"It'll be okay, Laura," Maya tried to console her.
"Mmm," was all Laura could say in return.
"Rest," Maya told her. "We'll be back soon."
NEW CAPRICAN COLONIAL TENT CITY; DWELLING OF SAUL & ELLEN TIGH
WEEK 26 OF CYLON OCCUPATION
"You're sure you arranged it all to Cottle's specifications?" Ellen nagged at Sam as he attempted to wash up in her basin.
A week had passed since Saul and Laura had been returned and there had been no visitations from any cylons since. Ellen decided that it was time to start making sure all of the preparations were in order for the coming delivery.
"Frak, I dunno, Elle," Sam grouced. "Go down there and look at it. See for yourself. If it's not good enough I'll move it later."
"Well the Doc wanted the mattresses in a certain spot so they were nearest to the wiring," Ellen reminded him.
"They are."
"He wanted the mattresses stacked on top of enough pallets so they reach his waist level," she told him for the third time.
"We stacked em'."
"And the sheets, towels, and pillows. You kept them wrapped up right? You didn't take them out to get all dusty did you?"
"They're all wrapped, Elle," Sam said with a groan as he rubbed his temples. "They're fine, but I'll bring em back up here if you want," he offered, tempering his frustrations. "Look, it's done. Doc says he'll have more stuff to send when it gets closer to the time. If anything needs to be fixed I'll do it then."
Ellen frowned.
"It doesn't hurt to be prepared early, ya know."
"Just relax, will ya?" Sam said with a roll of his eyes. "What are you? Some kind of frakkin' midwife all of a sudden?"
"No. I'm just doing my part," Ellen defended, with her hands on her hips.
"Well, no offence, Elle, but what the frak do you care?"
"Hey, I'm not heartless for frak sake!"
"I know that, I didn't mean that," Sam backtracked. "It's just, was Roslin ever even nice to you? I thought she was a snob."
"She…tolerated me for Bill's sake. She's been more than civil these days. Anyway, it doesn't matter. This baby doesn't deserve to come into all this chaos. That's who I'm worried about. The least I can do is organize this godsdamned mess. You and Saul and Galen are doing everything else. Laura's giving birth under my damn hovel of a home, the least I can do is make sure it's as comfortable and suitable as possible. Childbirth isn't easy, Sam! She could die down there for frak sake!"
Seeing how sincere his friend's concern was Sam backed off.
"Okay. Whatever you want, Elle."
"Thank you."
"So how's the Colonel?" Sam asked, eager to change the subject.
Ellen sighed and shook her head as her eyes began to water.
"He says he's fine but he's not. Gods, Sam he has bruises all over his back this time. It's been over a week and they look worse than they did when he first got back. On his side too. He wouldn't tell me what they did to him. He said it was mostly from when they took him and from sleeping on the concrete floor of his cell, but I don't think that's true. I think they hurt him while he was there. He wouldn't go see Cottle."
Sam had noticed the Colonel seemed to be walking with a slight limp and moving a lot slower than usual but he'd made no mention about what had gone on in detention to cause it.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they got rough with him. The way they took him this time. They want info and he won't talk. They're going to try and make him," Sam surmised.
"He can't keep going through this," Ellen said as she wiped at her tears with her sleeve.
"I gotta get going, Elle," Sam told her.
He had no words to comfort her with and he wouldn't lie to her just to pacify her fears.
"Okay," she sniffed.
Sam collected his coat and shrugged it on.
"Hey, listen," he said as he zipped it up
"Hm?"
"Duck told Chief he thought he saw you today down by the cylon administration building. You weren't over there again were you?"
If it hadn't have been Duck Sam would have chalked the alleged sighting up to rumor. He knew how people liked to talk about the Colonel's wife and he hated it, but Duck was one of his most trusted men.
"No," Ellen lied.
She'd gone back. She'd gone back to see if she could get the attention of that frakking little robot bastard again. The one who'd taken such glee from her distress and desperation, the one who had seemed to gain some odd satisfaction from her pain and fear. When she'd fled his office she'd done so swearing to herself she'd never again so much as look in the direction of the Cylon building, but things had changed since Saul's return home. This time Ellen could tell how much it had taken out of him. This time she knew without a doubt they'd hurt him, starved him, treated him as if he were less than an animal. He denied it but she knew. She could tell that he was rattled. It was taking him longer to recover, longer to regain focus. Ellen knew it was because he understood they'd be coming for him again. With that realization and the utter dread that his next abduction would be even worse Ellen had become paranoid. Saul only became angry with her the more worry and anxiety she showed. She'd begun to beg him to take a step back from the resistance, to let the younger men take charge and distance himself from organizing against the cylons. She figured the less he knew the less they could do to him, but Saul wouldn't hear of it and his anger surged toward her at the suggestion he would do such a cowardly thing. With no way to stop the cylons from coming back for him and no way of knowing when it would be, Ellen became incensed. In a moment of desperation as she quietly cried in bed one night, trying like hell not to wake Saul with her sobs she had a thought. Cavil had seemed somewhat interested in her. It was in a terrifyingly creepy way, but something about the way he'd spoken to her told Ellen that the intrigue went beyond a Cylon just wanting to dominate and strike fear into a human. She thought if she could see him again, horrifying as the prospect sounded, perhaps she could get in his good graces and beg for leniency when it came to her husband. She didn't know exactly what the cylon man would want from her but she knew that she was willing to do anything.
"You swear?" Sam pressed.
"I wasn't," Ellen answered. "At least not intentionally. I took Nikki for a walk in his sling while Saul was napping. I just sort of wandered around the camp. I don't remember going that far, but maybe I did. Maybe Duck saw me then."
She hadn't taken Nikki. She'd never be careless enough to take a child with her. She'd gone earlier in the day before Cally had even dropped him off. She went without a plan. All she could think to do was wander around again until maybe the Cavil she'd spoken to saw her again. She had no way of picking out which one was him and she didn't know how to ask for him, even if the New Caprican Police would answer her. Ellen had to be discreet. She knew that there were eyes all over the encampment and it came as no surprise to her that someone had mentioned seeing her there. Nothing had happened anyway. She'd loitered around without gaining the attention of a single One until time ran out and she knew that she'd have to run home so that Cally wouldn't be at the tent before her. Next time she told herself she'd be more careful.
"Your cheek seems to be getting better," Sam observed.
"Oh. I keep forgetting about that," she half shrugged. "Hardly feel it."
Sam squinted.
"Nothing good can come from you talking to any toasters, Elle," he said, unable to stop himself. "Just remember that."
"Damn it, Sam, I wasn't talking to any frakking toasters and you can tell Duck to get his frakking eyes checked."
"Fine," he said, dropping it and turning toward the tent flap. "I'm heading to Chief's."
Ellen was too angry to give him a proper goodbye, or to thank him for his help.
"Send Saul home," she called after him. "He's been there long enough for today."
"Will do," he replied as he left.
NEW CAPRICAN TENT SCHOOL
WEEK 28 OF CYLON OCCUPATION
"You should head home, Laura," Tory said over a stack of papers she was grading.
Laura didn't look up from her desk.
"Home," she mindlessly echoed.
"You're not even supposed to be here," Tory reminded her. "C'mon. I'll walk with you."
"Thank you, Tory, but I want to talk to you for a moment," Laura said as she returned a pen to her desk drawer. "Privately before we leave. There's something I've been meaning to ask you."
"Yes, Ma'am?" Tory responded out of old habit. "Laura," she corrected herself.
"I want to discuss arrangements for the future. If something should happen to me before the fleet returns, that is."
"Laura, I-"
"Just let me finish, Tory," Laura said as she removed her glasses. "Any number of things could go wrong. I may not survive this baby's birth, the cylons could take me one day and never return me again. For frak sake, around here I could catch a cold that kills me," she darkly joked, but Tory's expression remained impassive. "I need to make sure that someone knows my wishes and you're the only one I trust will do all that you can to make sure they're followed."
Troy swallowed hard. She did well with instruction. Emotion however was not her strongpoint. Still, without family left to call her own and still respecting the woman's former office she did feel a sense of honor in having Laura Roslin's confidence.
"Thank you, Ma'am. Your trust means the world."
Laura gave her a slight nod of acknowledgement and Tory was thankful that she seemed just as keen to keep sentimentalities out of the conversation.
"If I don't make it back to the fleet," Laura continued, "if something should happen to me after the baby is born or if I should be left behind on this planet…" Laura paused to gather herself "…I want you to make sure Lee Adama takes custody of my son."
"Commander Adama?" Tory said with a furrowed brow.
"Yes," Laura confirmed. "Once you've gotten the baby safely from his foster care, I want Lee Adama and his wife, Officer Dualla to raise him."
"What about-"
"The Admiral will have every right to know the truth about his child. I'm not asking anyone to keep him from his son. I just- I can't see him caring for a young child all on his own. It doesn't make much sense. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. With his position and all things considered I think it's for the best. He'll still be in his life. Maybe more as a grandfather. I suppose that will be for the Adamas to decide. I've thought a lot about it. I think the Admiral would understand my choice. I think he'd approve," Laura added, though she really didn't know if that would be the case.
Maybe Bill wouldn't approve. At least not right away. He could be so pig-headed sometimes, but Laura was confident that in time he would come to see that it was for the best in her absence.
"Okay," Tory conceded. "But, I have to ask; what if Commander Adama should refuse?" she posed. She wanted to make sure that she covered all possibilities as long as Laura was leaving her with such an important duty. "He's got Pegasus and an entire crew he's responsible for as well now," she reminded.
Laura shook her head.
"He won't," she asserted. "I know him well enough to trust that he would never for a second consider refusing."
Though she was less than confident about Bill's reaction to her wishes Laura trusted that she knew what Lee would do. She'd spent hours deliberating the topic. She'd considered the burden it would place on him and his new wife; a child they hadn't planned for. She'd even considered the gossip it might inspire. Though most assumed who had fathered her child she understood that in the early days of the fleet's journey she and Apollo had grown close enough that rumors had spread. Rumors over the nature of the president's relationship with her military liaison. Though those rumors had long ago faded away and become old fodder Laura wondered if perhaps they would resurface with Lee being given custody of the child. Perhaps some would incorrectly assume the child's paternity. Perhaps it would cause problems for Lee and Officer Dualla. Laura had to hope and trust that they each were strong and capable enough to endure it for the good of the child. She had little other choices for guardians and she at least believed that Lee Adama would raise her son to do good and fight for what was right.
"Captain Apollo- Commander Adama has always been driven to do what's right. Even when what's right isn't necessarily practical or even smart. He'll make sure his baby brother has a family. I know that," she said decidedly.
"I'll do all I can," Tory assured.
"Thank you, Tory."
"Yes, Ma'am."
There's just one more thing."
"Ma'am?"
Laura put her hand over her rounded middle and took a breath before speaking.
"If I die…or if we both should die during…"
"Laura-" Tory began to interject but Laura cut her off, determined to get through her last request.
"Will you and Maya make sure that our ashes are spread on the shore of the north lake? The one in the valley with the crystal clear water. I've always found it so peaceful there."
Tory paused for a moment debating on whether or not she should give Laura some supportive assurance that all would turn out to be okay, but she knew her too well to insult her intelligence or her common sense. They both knew the risks and the dangers ahead. She wouldn't patronize her.
"Of course, Laura," Tory pledged. "But may I ask something?"
"Yes?"
"Well, you've decided what you want to happen to your son if you die, you've decided what you want done with your remains if Gods forbid one or both of you dies," Tory summarized. "But what if the fleet should return and you and the baby both make it back? What happens then?" she posed.
Laura looked down at her desk to where her cold hands held on to her folded glasses.
"That…that I'm afraid I'm not as sure of."
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