FIC: Turn the Page ~ Chapter Thirty-three
Title: Turn the Page ~ Chapter Thirty-three
Author: bugs
Genre: AU, Romance, Drama
Rating: M
Word Count: 2,500
Chapter 33:
Laura bit Bill's neck hard until he hissed. The rain outside the window thumped against the glass, matching their bodies' steady rhythm. She rose above him in the darkness, her fingernails biting into his chest. Tilting forward into Bill's welcoming hands, she ground on his pubic bone until she groaned in pain and relief.
He combed her sweaty hair back and cooed reassuringly to her, but she wouldn't meet his imploring gaze, only continuing her relentless clashing of her body on his. His soft lips and tongue, soothing along her heated skin, went ignored. She suckled hungrily, branding his shoulders. He was hers; she wanted everyone to see that.
He grunted in appreciation, his hands spanning her hips, trying to gentle their coupling. Her response was to tighten her inner muscles, making his eyes roll back in his head as he gasped hoarsely.
She came with a long, pained whimper, her sweaty limbs suddenly shaking with a chill. She fell into his warm embrace and he buried his face in her hair as he made his last jerking thrusts.
When her breathing finally slowed, she crawled off him with a moan. He fumbled for his bedside table and the box of tissues. She grabbed his wrist.
"No," she said clearly.
He rolled on his side, stroking back her hair again, trying to see her face in the darkness. "Something wrong?" he asked carefully.
Burrowing under his arm, she didn't reply with more than a worried hum, only smoothing her palm across the scratches and bites she'd left on his skin.
He wrapped his arms around her, abandoning his usual cleaning rituals. Even without an answer, he saw she meant it.
She wanted her smell to remain on him; his on her. They would shower tomorrow, but she wanted her essence to stick for a few hours at least.
~*~
Laura waited nervously at her apartment for Billy to arrive. She'd finally summoned her courage to call him about their classes for the upcoming week. She'd heard the dull pain in his voice with his greeting. He told her that he could come over. Quickly, she'd realized he wouldn't want to come by Bill's house, where Dee may appear. The relief when she suggested her place affirmed this sense.
He rapped on the door just as her cell phone rang. She dug it out while opening the door for him.
"Hello?" she repeated when her first greeting was met with silence.
"Miss Roslin," said a voice.
"Yes?"
"This is Doctor Baltar."
"Yes?" She shrugged her shoulders at Billy's curious expression. "What can I help you with, Doctor?"
"Could you please come by my laboratory?"
"I don't know where your new laboratory is," she said, looking around for a notepad.
"It's in Berkeley." He read off the address. "I have your tablet," the doctor added.
"My tablet?" She thought of her intimate documents still on the device.
"Yes, it was returned by the police."
"But it's mine. I filed the police report," she said.
The doctor stayed silent for a long moment. "It's registered to my laboratory," he said. "But I'll be more than happy to return it to you."
"Yes, thank you," she said slowly, thinking. Although she'd deleted her documents, it wouldn't hurt to have the original device as well.
After hanging up, she looked around for her purse. "I need to go out," she explained to Billy.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Doctor Baltar has my old tablet," she said, pulling her coat from the closet.
"I don't think you should go to his lab, at least not alone," insisted Billy. "I know Bill wouldn't want you to go by yourself."
Obstinate, she stuck out her jaw. "It's fine--"
"Then you won't mind if I come with you," said Billy, shutting her door behind the two of them.
Laura had purchased a small used car, still trying to cling to her independence even as she'd moved in with Bill.
"I can take you anywhere you need to go," he'd insisted.
"You're not my cabbie," she'd replied.
"Let me help you buy a good one then," he'd grumbled. "These salesmen--"
She'd fobbed him off, telling him the law gave her twenty-four hours to return her purchase; he could inspect her choice.
For a minute she thought he was going to argue more, but then he'd just set his mouth in that way she'd become very familiar with and had returned to his writing.
But he'd been waiting at the end of the drive when she pulled in triumphantly with her purchase, a silver Honda Civic. He'd been wearing work jeans and a stained tee-shirt, ready to give it the once over.
"Pop the hood," was all he said when she jumped out from behind the wheel.
As he'd bent over the motor, muttering to himself, she'd only smoothed her hand across his broad back, smiling.
She always gave the hood of her 'Silver Bullet' a little pat when she got in, for good luck. She and Billy were behind the wheel when she realized she wasn't hadn't done it. Shaking her head at how silly she was being, she backed slowly out of her parking slot.
Billy looked around the street as they approached the address Doctor Baltar had given Laura. "Doesn't look like a laboratory," he said doubtfully.
The number was for a business named The Wacky Weed. Laura peered through the green leaf on the window glass, but it was dark inside.
"I think we should call Bill--" suggested Billy from behind her.
"We'll just try knocking," she said, lifting her fist to the glass door.
The sound of her rapping echoed through the dark store.
Finally, Baltar's tall, blonde assistant weaved through the displays inside and came to open the door.
Shelly smiled nervously at them. "Thank God you're here! Please come in!"
She yanked Laura's arm, dragging her inside. "You can wait," she said to Billy.
He shouldered in beside Laura. "I'm coming," he said, resolute.
Shelly slammed and locked the door behind them. "Go on through," she sneered.
A door at the back of the store was ajar. Light streamed through the crack. Laura moved toward it quickly, brushing past the pungently-odored displays.
She called out as she pushed the door open. "Doctor Baltar--"
The doctor was not alone. Baltar sat on a stool, trembling, his face battered and bloody. The little man Cavil stood beside him, a large automatic pistol nestled in the doctor's long hair near his temple.
Laura held up a hand as though to hold Billy back. The young man surged into the room anyway.
"What's going on--" he asked.
The weapon roared in the silent room, knocking Billy off his feet.
As Laura fell atop his writhing body, Cavil came over to stare down at her. "You were supposed to come alone."
She turned a tear-stained face up to him, fury in her voice. "Call an ambulance!"
He gave a short bark of a laugh. "No." He turned his gun back toward Baltar, who'd oozed off his stool and had taken a step toward the door.
Shelly peered into the room from the doorway.
"Both of you, get over there," Cavil said, tipping his head toward the back of the laboratory.
Laura frantically ripped open Billy's shirt and pressed her hands on the bubbling hole in his chest.
"I'm okay," he rasped at her, despite his pale face and shaking limbs.
"Doctor, help me," pleaded Laura.
Baltar gave her a wobbly smile and nodded toward Cavil. "I'm sorry--"
"I don't have time for this," growled Cavil. "I need your tablet."
"What are you talking about?" Laura said, staring at him. "I came to get my tablet."
"I know that's not the right one. He's not on it," said Cavil, his face twisted in anger.
"What are you talking about?" Laura shook her head in confusion. "We need to help my friend. Take whatever you want, my purse, my tablet--"
"Get her purse," Cavil ordered Shelly. "Get out her tablet."
She did as he told her, quickly firing up the device. He snatched it from her, his gun still trained on Baltar.
He tapped through the screens. "Password," he barked.
Laura told him. She'd shrugged out of her coat, folded it and elevated Billy's head. She removed his tie and used it to apply pressure to his wound.
"Where is he!?" Cavil ranted, tossing aside her tablet.
"What are you looking for!?" Laura yelled back at him.
"Daniel! I want Daniel!" Cavil waved his hand around the room full of computer servers. "He's not here. He wasn't on your other tablet. You have to have him!"
"Why would I have that program?" Laura asked, but looked accusingly at Baltar. He shrugged with another of his insincere smiles.
"That little shit's hiding Daniel from me," said Cavil. "He's been watching you, accessing your profile, searching your files--"
"Really, it's nothing," interrupted Baltar. "She's just a lovely woman, that's all."
Shelly gave him an incredulous look and Laura growled in the back of her throat, not bothering to raise her head.
"Well, she is," grumbled the doctor, folding his arms tightly.
"I want that program," growled Cavil, starting to stalk around the room.
"I don't have it," said Laura, her voice shaking. "I need to get help for my friend."
"I'm okay," Billy whispered faintly.
Cavil ignored her. He stopped before Baltar. "Won't do me any good to kill you," he mused. "The information is in here." He tapped the other man's head with the pistol.
"The problem is," he added slowly, "is that you don't care about anyone or anything but yourself, so how to persuade you to cough up what I want?"
Laura leaned over Billy, murmuring in his ear. "I'm so sorry, Billy, this is all my fault--"
"No," he gasped.
"I shouldn't have..." She didn't even know where to start. And damn her soul, she couldn't even confess to Billy.
"It's all my fault," was all she could say again.
His glassy eyes blinked. She had to get them out of there. She stood. Her sharp voice cut through the room, making everyone jump.
"You're right. The doctor's not going to give you what you want. I don't have what you want. So I'm going to call 911."
She didn't look at Cavil. Picking up her purse, she fished out her cell phone.
He watched her as she dialed but his gun didn't move from Baltar.
"I need an ambulance immediately. A man's been shot." She gave the address, her back to the others.
"You'd better go," she said to Cavil. The last thing she wanted was some standoff with the police to delay Billy's treatment.
He stared at her for a long moment. "Okay," he said finally.
"But I'll have Daniel," he told Baltar. "It's just a matter of time."
Baltar nodded rapidly, flapping one of his hands as if to shoo Cavil away.
The older man went to the door. He turned back. "Just a matter of time, Gauis," he repeated. "I'll have Daniel, dammit. He's my baby, not yours."
When the door clicked shut, Laura sagged down beside Billy. She quickly dialed Bill's number, even as sirens approached.
~*~
Saul approached his friend sitting beside Laura on the hard plastic chairs of the hospital waiting room. Bill released her hand and stood.
"I'll just be a minute," he reassured her.
She nodded wordlessly, her blank eyes focused on the dirty floor.
"Whatya find out?" Bill growled at Saul, pulling him out of Laura's earshot.
"Not much," Saul replied. "That joker has no idea where Cavil's gotten to." He rolled his eyes.
Bill's fists curled shut. "What I'd give to 'interrogate' Baltar."
"I know, I know..." Saul rubbed his neck. "But I don't think he does know anything, or that broad of his."
"Son of a bitch." Bill shook his head. "I can't have Laura in this kind of danger--"
Saul flicked Bill's collar, looking at the red marks on his neck. "I dunno, friend. Seems like she can take care of herself. Never would have thought a nun--" He glanced over at Laura speculatively.
"Shut up," Bill said with no rancor. "I gotta get back to her. If you hear anything--"
"Yeah, yeah." Saul clapped him on the shoulder. "Go be a strong chest to cry on."
After he sat back down beside her, Bill smoothed Laura's back rhythmically with his wide hand. She was hunched in her chair, not in defeat, but from the intensity of staring at the entry into the waiting room. When the surgeon came, she wanted to be the first to hear the news.
"Don't know why Dee's not here yet," Bill said, breaking the silence.
Laura's throat was so dry she couldn't make more of a sound than a raspy grunt.
As though he summoned her with his query, Dee arrived with her father. Shifting in her seat, Laura didn't look at them; her gaze remained on the door.
Puzzled, Bill went to the newest arrivals.
He enveloped Dee in a hug. "Honey, I'm glad you're here," he said.
Dee mumbled something he couldn't quite understand.
"Bill," Laura said from her seat, summoning him with her harsh tone.
"We don't know anything yet," he told them before hurrying back to Laura.
She took his hand, desperation in her eyes. "Please see if you can find anything out. I can't stand that any more--"
"I'll do what I can," he promised. He tried to smile reassuringly but he could only give her a pained twist of his lips.
Saul had been watching the scene from across the room. He strode across the floor, cutting off Bill before he could speak to Dee again.
"I'll stay with Laura," Saul said. "Go see what you can find out. Throw around your famous writer cred."
"I'll come too," offered Bulldog. He patted his jacket pocket. "Throw my shield down if that cred doesn't work."
Laura gave the police detective a shaky smile of thanks, but still didn't look at his daughter.
She watched the two wide backs pass through the swinging doors, Daniel's flashing badge stopping any protest. Only then did she close her eyes, shutting out the overly-bright lights, jabbering crowd, and a set of haunted green eyes on Dee.
Unsure how much time had passed, Laura sensed Bill's return and opened her eyes, looking up into his craggy face. He lifted her from her hard seat and pulled her into his arms. She leaned against his comforting bulk for a moment, feeling so weak. Then she found her strength and began to struggle.
"No, no," she whispered roughly, her fist pummeling his chest.
"Yes," he said in her ear, holding her close as she collapsed.
End ~ Chapter 33
E/N: Sorry for the delay. Obviously I dislike killing poor Billy, yet again!
Author: bugs
Genre: AU, Romance, Drama
Rating: M
Word Count: 2,500
Chapter 33:
Laura bit Bill's neck hard until he hissed. The rain outside the window thumped against the glass, matching their bodies' steady rhythm. She rose above him in the darkness, her fingernails biting into his chest. Tilting forward into Bill's welcoming hands, she ground on his pubic bone until she groaned in pain and relief.
He combed her sweaty hair back and cooed reassuringly to her, but she wouldn't meet his imploring gaze, only continuing her relentless clashing of her body on his. His soft lips and tongue, soothing along her heated skin, went ignored. She suckled hungrily, branding his shoulders. He was hers; she wanted everyone to see that.
He grunted in appreciation, his hands spanning her hips, trying to gentle their coupling. Her response was to tighten her inner muscles, making his eyes roll back in his head as he gasped hoarsely.
She came with a long, pained whimper, her sweaty limbs suddenly shaking with a chill. She fell into his warm embrace and he buried his face in her hair as he made his last jerking thrusts.
When her breathing finally slowed, she crawled off him with a moan. He fumbled for his bedside table and the box of tissues. She grabbed his wrist.
"No," she said clearly.
He rolled on his side, stroking back her hair again, trying to see her face in the darkness. "Something wrong?" he asked carefully.
Burrowing under his arm, she didn't reply with more than a worried hum, only smoothing her palm across the scratches and bites she'd left on his skin.
He wrapped his arms around her, abandoning his usual cleaning rituals. Even without an answer, he saw she meant it.
She wanted her smell to remain on him; his on her. They would shower tomorrow, but she wanted her essence to stick for a few hours at least.
~*~
Laura waited nervously at her apartment for Billy to arrive. She'd finally summoned her courage to call him about their classes for the upcoming week. She'd heard the dull pain in his voice with his greeting. He told her that he could come over. Quickly, she'd realized he wouldn't want to come by Bill's house, where Dee may appear. The relief when she suggested her place affirmed this sense.
He rapped on the door just as her cell phone rang. She dug it out while opening the door for him.
"Hello?" she repeated when her first greeting was met with silence.
"Miss Roslin," said a voice.
"Yes?"
"This is Doctor Baltar."
"Yes?" She shrugged her shoulders at Billy's curious expression. "What can I help you with, Doctor?"
"Could you please come by my laboratory?"
"I don't know where your new laboratory is," she said, looking around for a notepad.
"It's in Berkeley." He read off the address. "I have your tablet," the doctor added.
"My tablet?" She thought of her intimate documents still on the device.
"Yes, it was returned by the police."
"But it's mine. I filed the police report," she said.
The doctor stayed silent for a long moment. "It's registered to my laboratory," he said. "But I'll be more than happy to return it to you."
"Yes, thank you," she said slowly, thinking. Although she'd deleted her documents, it wouldn't hurt to have the original device as well.
After hanging up, she looked around for her purse. "I need to go out," she explained to Billy.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Doctor Baltar has my old tablet," she said, pulling her coat from the closet.
"I don't think you should go to his lab, at least not alone," insisted Billy. "I know Bill wouldn't want you to go by yourself."
Obstinate, she stuck out her jaw. "It's fine--"
"Then you won't mind if I come with you," said Billy, shutting her door behind the two of them.
Laura had purchased a small used car, still trying to cling to her independence even as she'd moved in with Bill.
"I can take you anywhere you need to go," he'd insisted.
"You're not my cabbie," she'd replied.
"Let me help you buy a good one then," he'd grumbled. "These salesmen--"
She'd fobbed him off, telling him the law gave her twenty-four hours to return her purchase; he could inspect her choice.
For a minute she thought he was going to argue more, but then he'd just set his mouth in that way she'd become very familiar with and had returned to his writing.
But he'd been waiting at the end of the drive when she pulled in triumphantly with her purchase, a silver Honda Civic. He'd been wearing work jeans and a stained tee-shirt, ready to give it the once over.
"Pop the hood," was all he said when she jumped out from behind the wheel.
As he'd bent over the motor, muttering to himself, she'd only smoothed her hand across his broad back, smiling.
She always gave the hood of her 'Silver Bullet' a little pat when she got in, for good luck. She and Billy were behind the wheel when she realized she wasn't hadn't done it. Shaking her head at how silly she was being, she backed slowly out of her parking slot.
Billy looked around the street as they approached the address Doctor Baltar had given Laura. "Doesn't look like a laboratory," he said doubtfully.
The number was for a business named The Wacky Weed. Laura peered through the green leaf on the window glass, but it was dark inside.
"I think we should call Bill--" suggested Billy from behind her.
"We'll just try knocking," she said, lifting her fist to the glass door.
The sound of her rapping echoed through the dark store.
Finally, Baltar's tall, blonde assistant weaved through the displays inside and came to open the door.
Shelly smiled nervously at them. "Thank God you're here! Please come in!"
She yanked Laura's arm, dragging her inside. "You can wait," she said to Billy.
He shouldered in beside Laura. "I'm coming," he said, resolute.
Shelly slammed and locked the door behind them. "Go on through," she sneered.
A door at the back of the store was ajar. Light streamed through the crack. Laura moved toward it quickly, brushing past the pungently-odored displays.
She called out as she pushed the door open. "Doctor Baltar--"
The doctor was not alone. Baltar sat on a stool, trembling, his face battered and bloody. The little man Cavil stood beside him, a large automatic pistol nestled in the doctor's long hair near his temple.
Laura held up a hand as though to hold Billy back. The young man surged into the room anyway.
"What's going on--" he asked.
The weapon roared in the silent room, knocking Billy off his feet.
As Laura fell atop his writhing body, Cavil came over to stare down at her. "You were supposed to come alone."
She turned a tear-stained face up to him, fury in her voice. "Call an ambulance!"
He gave a short bark of a laugh. "No." He turned his gun back toward Baltar, who'd oozed off his stool and had taken a step toward the door.
Shelly peered into the room from the doorway.
"Both of you, get over there," Cavil said, tipping his head toward the back of the laboratory.
Laura frantically ripped open Billy's shirt and pressed her hands on the bubbling hole in his chest.
"I'm okay," he rasped at her, despite his pale face and shaking limbs.
"Doctor, help me," pleaded Laura.
Baltar gave her a wobbly smile and nodded toward Cavil. "I'm sorry--"
"I don't have time for this," growled Cavil. "I need your tablet."
"What are you talking about?" Laura said, staring at him. "I came to get my tablet."
"I know that's not the right one. He's not on it," said Cavil, his face twisted in anger.
"What are you talking about?" Laura shook her head in confusion. "We need to help my friend. Take whatever you want, my purse, my tablet--"
"Get her purse," Cavil ordered Shelly. "Get out her tablet."
She did as he told her, quickly firing up the device. He snatched it from her, his gun still trained on Baltar.
He tapped through the screens. "Password," he barked.
Laura told him. She'd shrugged out of her coat, folded it and elevated Billy's head. She removed his tie and used it to apply pressure to his wound.
"Where is he!?" Cavil ranted, tossing aside her tablet.
"What are you looking for!?" Laura yelled back at him.
"Daniel! I want Daniel!" Cavil waved his hand around the room full of computer servers. "He's not here. He wasn't on your other tablet. You have to have him!"
"Why would I have that program?" Laura asked, but looked accusingly at Baltar. He shrugged with another of his insincere smiles.
"That little shit's hiding Daniel from me," said Cavil. "He's been watching you, accessing your profile, searching your files--"
"Really, it's nothing," interrupted Baltar. "She's just a lovely woman, that's all."
Shelly gave him an incredulous look and Laura growled in the back of her throat, not bothering to raise her head.
"Well, she is," grumbled the doctor, folding his arms tightly.
"I want that program," growled Cavil, starting to stalk around the room.
"I don't have it," said Laura, her voice shaking. "I need to get help for my friend."
"I'm okay," Billy whispered faintly.
Cavil ignored her. He stopped before Baltar. "Won't do me any good to kill you," he mused. "The information is in here." He tapped the other man's head with the pistol.
"The problem is," he added slowly, "is that you don't care about anyone or anything but yourself, so how to persuade you to cough up what I want?"
Laura leaned over Billy, murmuring in his ear. "I'm so sorry, Billy, this is all my fault--"
"No," he gasped.
"I shouldn't have..." She didn't even know where to start. And damn her soul, she couldn't even confess to Billy.
"It's all my fault," was all she could say again.
His glassy eyes blinked. She had to get them out of there. She stood. Her sharp voice cut through the room, making everyone jump.
"You're right. The doctor's not going to give you what you want. I don't have what you want. So I'm going to call 911."
She didn't look at Cavil. Picking up her purse, she fished out her cell phone.
He watched her as she dialed but his gun didn't move from Baltar.
"I need an ambulance immediately. A man's been shot." She gave the address, her back to the others.
"You'd better go," she said to Cavil. The last thing she wanted was some standoff with the police to delay Billy's treatment.
He stared at her for a long moment. "Okay," he said finally.
"But I'll have Daniel," he told Baltar. "It's just a matter of time."
Baltar nodded rapidly, flapping one of his hands as if to shoo Cavil away.
The older man went to the door. He turned back. "Just a matter of time, Gauis," he repeated. "I'll have Daniel, dammit. He's my baby, not yours."
When the door clicked shut, Laura sagged down beside Billy. She quickly dialed Bill's number, even as sirens approached.
~*~
Saul approached his friend sitting beside Laura on the hard plastic chairs of the hospital waiting room. Bill released her hand and stood.
"I'll just be a minute," he reassured her.
She nodded wordlessly, her blank eyes focused on the dirty floor.
"Whatya find out?" Bill growled at Saul, pulling him out of Laura's earshot.
"Not much," Saul replied. "That joker has no idea where Cavil's gotten to." He rolled his eyes.
Bill's fists curled shut. "What I'd give to 'interrogate' Baltar."
"I know, I know..." Saul rubbed his neck. "But I don't think he does know anything, or that broad of his."
"Son of a bitch." Bill shook his head. "I can't have Laura in this kind of danger--"
Saul flicked Bill's collar, looking at the red marks on his neck. "I dunno, friend. Seems like she can take care of herself. Never would have thought a nun--" He glanced over at Laura speculatively.
"Shut up," Bill said with no rancor. "I gotta get back to her. If you hear anything--"
"Yeah, yeah." Saul clapped him on the shoulder. "Go be a strong chest to cry on."
After he sat back down beside her, Bill smoothed Laura's back rhythmically with his wide hand. She was hunched in her chair, not in defeat, but from the intensity of staring at the entry into the waiting room. When the surgeon came, she wanted to be the first to hear the news.
"Don't know why Dee's not here yet," Bill said, breaking the silence.
Laura's throat was so dry she couldn't make more of a sound than a raspy grunt.
As though he summoned her with his query, Dee arrived with her father. Shifting in her seat, Laura didn't look at them; her gaze remained on the door.
Puzzled, Bill went to the newest arrivals.
He enveloped Dee in a hug. "Honey, I'm glad you're here," he said.
Dee mumbled something he couldn't quite understand.
"Bill," Laura said from her seat, summoning him with her harsh tone.
"We don't know anything yet," he told them before hurrying back to Laura.
She took his hand, desperation in her eyes. "Please see if you can find anything out. I can't stand that any more--"
"I'll do what I can," he promised. He tried to smile reassuringly but he could only give her a pained twist of his lips.
Saul had been watching the scene from across the room. He strode across the floor, cutting off Bill before he could speak to Dee again.
"I'll stay with Laura," Saul said. "Go see what you can find out. Throw around your famous writer cred."
"I'll come too," offered Bulldog. He patted his jacket pocket. "Throw my shield down if that cred doesn't work."
Laura gave the police detective a shaky smile of thanks, but still didn't look at his daughter.
She watched the two wide backs pass through the swinging doors, Daniel's flashing badge stopping any protest. Only then did she close her eyes, shutting out the overly-bright lights, jabbering crowd, and a set of haunted green eyes on Dee.
Unsure how much time had passed, Laura sensed Bill's return and opened her eyes, looking up into his craggy face. He lifted her from her hard seat and pulled her into his arms. She leaned against his comforting bulk for a moment, feeling so weak. Then she found her strength and began to struggle.
"No, no," she whispered roughly, her fist pummeling his chest.
"Yes," he said in her ear, holding her close as she collapsed.
End ~ Chapter 33
E/N: Sorry for the delay. Obviously I dislike killing poor Billy, yet again!