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Originally written in 2008; updated 2020 and lightly revised in September 2023.
This Much, I Can Give
Warmth
Thought came before she was fully conscious. Cold. It was supposed to be cold. She could hear Kobol's rain on the tent fabric, feel clammy damp air against her face. So why was she so comfortably warm?
Because she was nestled against another body.
Startled, Laura Roslin came completely awake to the realization that she was spooned against none other than Tom Zarek. Zarek, whom she couldn't fully classify as friend or foe. Zarek, who'd challenge her in one breath and support her in the next. Zarek, who might or might not even want her dead.
She turned slightly and his arm tightened around her waist. "What –"
"Your teeth were chattering," he whispered in her ear. It could have been intimate, but oddly, it wasn't. It was just shared body warmth. Only that. Nothing else.
Still, this was Tom Zarek. She started to stiffen, to pull away. "I'm fine."
"Laura." He wrapped his other arm, the one she'd been using as a pillow, around her shoulders. "Go back to sleep."
Until now, she hadn't realized he was physically strong enough to hold her still, even when she struggled against him. A frisson of fear lanced through her. But when she stopped moving, his arms loosened. He might have been able to do so, but he had no intention of hurting her.
At least, not right now.
Oddly comforted by the thought, she closed her eyes and slept.