I decided to rewrite this story. Here are both chapters 1 & 2.

Soulmates were identified with a matching tattoos located on the inside of the wrist. When you turned eighteen the tattoo would appear on your wrist. Not everyone met their soulmates, some met but didn't ever see the tattoo.

Laura had never met hers and she accepted that a long time ago.

She sat in the brig, staring through the metal bars. The hatch creaked as it opened, and Commander Adama entered the brig. Laura stood and took a few steps forward to stop right behind the brigs door, her hand came to rest on the bars. Without speaking he stared at her, and she stared back at him. A muscle in his jaw twitched, he was angry with her. Laura didn't care, she was angry with him too. Silence filled the room, so quiet they could hear the shuffling of the marine behind them. Bill didn't move, silently challenging her, to see who would flinch first. When she could take it no longer, she shifted, stepping back the slightest bit and turned her wrist.

For a moment Bill could see the tattoo on her wrist, and all other thoughts fled. He had only seen if for a moment... Surely not. His breath caught and wordlessly he reached his hand through the bar taking her wrist in his hand.

"What are you doing?"

Laura asked. He twister her hand so he could see the tattoo. Bill's stopped breathing for a moment and his heart pounded against his ribs. Laura's eyes were wide, she had began to peice together what was happening.

"It's not-" Bill turned over his wrist, showing her the tattoo, he had, silencing her.

A perfect match.

There eyes met for a moment and then she pulled her wrist away. Laura took a few steps backwards into the cell. Her heart beat sounding in her ears.

"Frak," she whispered. Why did it have to be him? Why did it have to be now? She had been perfectly content to never know who her soulmate was. Bill looked just as stunned as she did.

According to Caprican law, if someone found their soulmate, they were legally required to marry them. Of course they were no longer on Caprica. There had been no discussion about if this law still applied, Laura hadn't even thought about it. They could pretend this had never happaned. Laura glanced at the marine by the doorway, there was a chance he would keep their secret. She could just where gloves the rest of her life. If she could find a pair of gloves... She looked back to Bill. There was another thing to consider, she had heard stories of people who refused their soulmate, of getting sick, some even dying. Laura had never learned if they were true or not, know she wished she had asked more questions.

"So," Bill said, "I guess we should get married then." Her eyes widened with fear and she felt her heart rate increase, but she knew he was right. A much as she didn't want to admit it to herself, he was right. She swallowed.

"I never agreed to that."

"You've heard about what can happen. You don't want to leave Gaius Balter and Saul in charge of the fleet."

"I guess I don't have a choice then," Laura said looking towards the ground, "Are you at least going to ask me properly?" She said, ignoring the irony of being proposed to while in the brig, by the man who had put her there.

"Do you want me to get down on one knee too?"

"Maybe." Somehow she always managed to try his patience.

"Madam... former president will you marry me?"

"It would seem I don't have any other choice."

"So that's a yes?"

Laura was already pacing the cell, coming up with a plan.

"Elosha can officiate the ceremony, Billy can be our witness, and Lee..." she added.

"Are we supposed to tell the general public about this?" Bill asked. Laura stopped her pacing and approached the bars again.

"It doesn't look good."

"No it doesn't, but lying to them, looks worse."

"We can't tell them now. We can figure it out later."

"Alright."

Bill felt a little ridiculous explaining the situation to Elosha. Asking her to officiate a secret wedding in the brig, between the two people in the fleet, who defiantly should not get married.

"I see," she said, when he finished telling her about the secret wedding. Elosha stood up and Bill followed her back to the raptor. Bill pulled the wedding ring off his finger, it didn't feel right to wear it anymore. He put it in his pocket, he'd figure out what to do with it later. When they entered the brig, Billy was talking to Laura.

"What's going on?" he asked, when Elosha and Bill entered.

"It's probably better if I just show you," Laura said turning her wrist, so Billy could see the tattoo. Bill held out his wrist beside hers.

"Oh." Billy said. "That's interesting."

"That's one word to describe it, let's start the ceremony, I'm supposed to be in the CIC."

"Where's Lee?" Laura asked.

"He's busy, I'll explain everything to him later."

"Aren't you going to let her out of the cell?" Elosha asked.

"I'm not going to run." Laura assured him. If she tried the marine at the door would stop her anyway. Bill unlocked the cell and she stepped out of it.

"Take each others hands," Elosha instructed. Laura placed her hands in Bill's. Elosha then performed the Caprican wedding ceremony.

They were married. Bill dropped her hands,

"I have to get back to the CIC." Laura walked back into the brig and Bill locked the door. Locking the door seemed harder to do then it had the first time. He almost didn't want too. Bill admonished himself for being foolish, it was for the sake of the fleet that she was in the brig, and he'd let her out eventually anyway.

"I'm going to go," Elosha said.

"Bye." Now that Bill and Elosha had left Laura spoke to Billy in hushed tones.

"Billy, do you think you could get me my Chamalla?" She could feel the beginnings of a headache forming.

"I'll try," Billy told her.

"Thank you."

Soulmates could feel each others pain.

There was a sudden shooting pain through Laura's chest, she gasped, almost falling. The searing intensity faded in a moment leaving a shadow of the pain that once was.

"Are you okay?" The marine on gaurd duty asked.

"I'm fine," Laura said. The pain had already subsided for the most part. Now that the pain was gone it was replaced with a feeling of dread. That feeling increased when Lee entered the brig, covered in blood and announcing that his father had been shot.

She began to pace the small cell.

"How is he?"

"I don't know... Not good." She felt as if her heart stopped for a moment. She didn't want to be in the same room as him a minute ago. Now she could barely breathe at the thought of something happening to him. Laura sat with her head in her hands trying to catch her breath. Her heart hurt not knowing if he was okay. Her only comfort was that if he were to die, she would know, and he was still alive.

Chapter 2

Laura stood at Bill's bedside in sickbay. The place smelled like blood and cleaning supplies. She looked down upon Bill's sleeping form, his chest moved up and down. She wished she could reach out, hold his hand. Lee stood to her side and she could see the worried expression on his face.

"He's going to be alright, you know that." She said. He had to be.

With one last glance towards him Laura walked out of sickbay.

The incessant buzzing in her head made it hard to think clearly. And she needed to think clearly. She was the President. No that wasn't right. She used to be the President. Now she was, where was she? Laura looked around slowly taking in her soundings from where she sat her back against the wall. She was in jail, she needed to get out, that's why she needed to think. The buzzing in her head increased and she put her hands over her ears, trying to block out the noise.

"Madam President?" Billy said. She looked at him through the bars, staying silent for a moment.

"Billy?" she said as she approached to bars of the prison. "Did you get the Chamalla?" she asked lowering her voice on the last word. Billy shook his head silently.

"But I'll keep trying," he promised, he looked disappointed, probably in himself. Laura tried not to let her rising panic show, it would be okay. She knows he thinks he failed her in some way. The truth is he seems to be the only light in this entire mess. Sometimes he seems to be the only light left at all. The buzzing in her head returned and Billy's voice faded away. She lay down, rubbing the spot on her chest that had stopped hurting a long time ago. She wondered how Bill was doing. She was connected to him now and there lives were intertwined together whether they liked it or not. And she didn't like it, she was still angry at him for throwing her into the brig. If she was honest with herself the real reason she didn't like it was because now she cared. It mattered to her what happened to him. Not that it hadn't mattered before, but now... Now she couldn't feel any sense of peace until she knew he was okay. Now it felt like without him a piece of herself was missing. She had always rolled her eyes at the thought of two people being so close, so in love that they were a part of each other, it was a concept that belonged in romance novels. Yet her heart ached with worry. Her thoughts were tormented with the image of him lying unconscious, the scar on his chest... Whether she wanted to admit it or not, he was her other half, for better or for worse. Her thoughts faded as she took in her soundings. Were was she? She sat upright. Jail. She was in jail. Why was she in jail?

Bill strode down the hallway of Galactica. He wouldn't admit he missed her. He was finally recovered from the gun shot wound. He still burned with anger at the thought of what Boomer had done, that she was a cylon, they had all trusted her, he had trusted her. She had lied to them all, what was worse was that they hadn't suspected a thing. Bill pushed aside the rage building inside him it wouldn't help to dwell on that now. It also wouldn't help to dwell on how much he missed Laura. He had tried to stay angry at her, it was easier than missing her, but he couldn't bring himself to be angry at her anymore. It didn't help that he could feel that she was in pain. His chest ached and not from the gunshot wound, the pain killers had fixed that. This pain was different, this pain wasn't his. He entered the CIC.

"Mr. Gaeta, I want to see all recon material from Kobol immediately in my quarters." Bill said. Several people shared looks with each other.

"Aye sir," replied Mr. Gaeta.

"Kobol?" Saul questioned.

"Yes," Bill paused briefly. "I'm putting the fleet back together, I'm putting our family back together. This ends now."

Laura's lungs burned with the effort it took to keep walking. Rain still dripped from the sky and she shivered as a drop landed on her nose and slipped down her face onto her jacket. At this point they were all soaked, freezing and exhausted.

Finally they decided to stop and set up camp. Laura sat under her tarp, listening to the rain drops falling against it. There was a sound and Lee and Kara grabbed thier guns. Laura's heart constricted and for a moment she worried that it was cylons. A moment later Bill appeared. Laura allowed herself to feel the littlest bit of relief that he seemed to be alright. She watched as he stepped forward and pulled Lee into a hug. His expression softened when he hugged his son. She wondered how he was going to react to seeing her after all that had happened. Was he still angry with her? She had let go of any anger she felt towards him for this entire incident when he had been shot. It seemed futile after that.

"Commander," she said.

"It's good to see you," Bill said.

"Madam President," came a voice from behind her. Billy. She smiled as she saw him.

"You have no idea what it means to me that you came."

Then Sharon stepped out from behind a tree. Chief yelled and everyone drew their weapons.

"Hold your fire, she's with us." Laura said. Bill ignored her and attacked the cylon throwing her to the ground.

"Stop it!" Laura cried.

"Let her go!" yelled Helo.

"Commander please don't we need her." Laura says. He has his hands around her neck. Sharon struggled trying to fight back.

"Commander," Laura repeated. She bit back a gasp when she feels a shooting pain through her chest. Laura stumbled slightly but she managed to keep herself from falling, at the same time Bill clutched his chest in pain. Lee dropped his weapon and pulled Bill off Sharon. Bill rested his head against Lee shutting his eyes while he waited for the pain to pass. Laura took a deep breath trying to disguise the pain on her face. After a moment the shooting pain is gone. Laura looks up and Kara is staring right at her. Her head tilted slightly an odd expression on her face.

She and Bill sit across from each other under one of the tarps. A sense of equilibrium soothed her frayed nerves, now that she is sitting close to him.

"You broke your word to me."

"That's really what bothered you, is in it?"

"Laura I forgive you."

"Thank you Bill. I didn't ask for your forgiveness." A small part of her is overjoyed that he is no longer mad at her as silly as that seems.

"You have it anyway," he says. She thinks about reaching out her hand and taking his but she doesn't. She smiles when Bill reaches out his hand and takes hers, holding it for a moment before letting go. She still in pain, he can tell. He doesn't feel it as much as he did before, it's more like an ache than real pain, but he can tell she is suffering. Bill searches her green eyes, trying to decide if he should bring it up. The worry he doesn't particularly want to have over her well being wins the battle in the end.

"Are you injured?" he asks.

"No."

"I can feel your in pain," Bill says. She looks down at her hands. It was only a matter of time before he found out, but right now was not the time to have this discussion. Soon she wouldn't be able to hide it. She hated the pain that this would cause him. She shouldn't be subjecting any one else to this.

"We should talk about this later." Laura said. Bill sighed,

"We should go find that tomb."

After they find the tomb, and Laura is reinstated as president. Bill and Laura sit on the couch in his quarters.

"Would you like a glass of water?" Bill said, holding the glass out in front of him.

"Yes, thank you," Laura said taking the glass. She had made the decision to tell him, after announcing it to the Qurom it wouldn't be long before he found it out anyway. Bill is silent waiting for her to talk first.

"Bill... There is something I need to tell you, before you find out from someone else." she says, she already told the qurom this shouldn't be harder. Laura sips her water, her hands shake a little bit as she places the glass back onto the table. She looks to him, their eyes meeting, but she quickly turns away, when she sees the concern that is reflected in his eyes. If he keeps looking at her like that, like he really cares, then she won't be able to tell him. So she turns her head away from him and focuses on a spot on the wall. Laura takes a breath.

"I have terminal breast cancer." He is silent and after a little while she dares to look at him. Laura regrets it, seeing the hurt in his eyes, she looks away again.

"How long?" he asks.

"A couple months," she says.

"No." Bill replies.

"No?"

"And you can't do treatment?"

"Even if I would, It's too late for that."

"I don't accept this."

"Bill..."

"The fleet needs you Laura," he says.

"The fleet will be fine without me." She stands up to leave and makes her way towards the hatch but the sound of his voice stops her.

"I just found you, I don't want to lose you." She closes her eye feeling tears pushing at her eyelids. This is too much, he shouldn't care for her this much. She can handle her own hurt over this, she can't handle his too. He doesn't have the right to feel upset over this, he never wanted her and she never wanted him.

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" she says, her voice betraying her by cracking on the last word. Without turning back she walks out of the hatch.