a pair of jeans and a second date
Title: Ode to Tight Fittin’ Jeans
Characters: Lee/Laura
Rating: R to be safe
Disclaimer: Characters are property of Universal/Sci-Fi and not me; however, they are currently in negotiation to become mine because I let them have more fun. I only borrow them to play with them and they never give me money I swear; only cubits...what the hell is a cubit in dollars anyway?
A/N: This is my interpretation of what happens when Laura puts on a tight pair of denim jeans and heads out to the local bar. Thanks to Conway Twitty and his Tight Fittin’ Jeans song for the inspiration.
PART 2
The day is officially over for everyone but the President. She’s leaning over a file, papers scattered about her desk, her attention on everything but the document in front of her eyes. An upward glance at her clock makes her first think that it isn’t working, but then she remembers she was just looking at it. She slides her gaze down to the doorway below the timepiece and feels her heart quicken. He will be coming through there soon, she thinks, she prays.
Laura goes back to her document, but can’t see anything other than his face and those amazing blue eyes. She feels something touch her lips and realizes it is her own hand. He’d been to that spot once before in a crowded bar in Caprica City. If his friends hadn’t been drunk, if Lee had been sober, if she hadn’t been… They’d been in meetings, in close contact since the attacks, but never alone. Laura knows she shouldn’t be expecting anything from asking him over, but what if? She thought she’d missed her chance when she walked away from him that night, but there he’d been on the Colonial with that smiling face and those blue eyes. Those amazing blue eyes.
“Hello.”
Laura is startled to look up and see those blue eyes looking straight into hers. “Hi.”
It’s been nearly two weeks since the Cylon attacks and her being named President of the Twelve Colonies. Nearly two weeks since seeing Captain Apollo standing before her as she doled out assignments and tried to save humanity from extinction. Nearly two weeks of thinking about each other while trying to not think about each other in order to conduct their jobs.
Lee flashes her a grin and is thrilled to see her respond with one of her own. He’s been thinking about her auburn hair and blue-green eyes and those denim jeans. He shouldn’t have been thinking of her so much, especially since water became a luxury there for a bit, but he couldn’t get the image of her out of his mind. And now, here he was in her quarters with no one else around. He’d been ecstatic when she’d off-handedly mentioned he could drop by if he wanted and had tried hard to hide it. He didn’t know if she was thinking what he’d been thinking. Maybe.
“Madame President.”
“Laura.”
“Laura.” Lee smiles.
He keeps thinking about his hands in the back pockets of those tight denim jeans and the feel of her curves, of her body pressing close to his. Should he tell her that the memory of that first sweet kiss is the last thing he thinks about before sleeping? That the image of her face in the dusky light of that bar is what got him through nearly a week without sleep?
“Lee.”
“Captain Apollo.”
“All right, Captain Apollo,” Laura beams. “Why do you smile when I call you that, but cringe whenever someone else says it?”
Lee ducks his head a moment and Laura thinks she sees him blush. “Um, it’s the way you say it. I know you are sincere. The others, well, they say it in jest.”
Laura brightens, gazing at him for a moment longer than she should, then goes about tiding up her desk. Nervous energy. Nervous, her, after all this time. She’s glad to see Lee out of his military dress and in his civvies. His loose jeans and crisp white shirt suit him and remind her of the first time she saw him, as if she could forget that image. Those beautiful blue eyes of his, so clear and striking, lodged in her brain from the second she caught sight of him.
Lee looks tired, but then again, they’re both a little worse for wear considering the past few days. It’s a miracle they found an evening free. So stop wasting it by cleaning up, she scolds herself.
“Would you care for something to drink?”
“That’d be nice.”
“Great, um, if you don’t mind pouring them while I go change out of this,” she asks, gesturing towards her black slacks and heels, “That is if you don’t mind?”
Lee catches the uncomfortable smile on her face and sees her shifting her weight from foot to foot. “Oh, no, not at all. Go. I wondered if those shoes were killing your feet.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Well, you were fidgeting.”
Lee is fidgeting too, nervous energy he decides. Since seeing Laura all those lifetimes ago, had it really just been two weeks ago? He hadn’t wanted to leave the Colonial, but with the deaths of so many pilots, the CAG spot fell to him and that meant his presence was needed more on the Galactica. Being Laura’s advisor made their chances of meeting again greater. Lee’s glad she thought that position up, even if all they do is talk about everything but that night in Caprica City and try to not stare longingly at each other.
Laura did have a need for an advisor, but she didn’t have to ask him personally. But he’s glad for it, glad he has a chance to see her eyes light up when he comes over for meetings, even though they don’t do much other than discuss military issues, then a tidbit or two on how they’re getting along. Lee likes to think of that time as little dates, as opportunities to learn more about Laura. He’s started to notice that her eyes change color with her moods. If his observations are correct, tonight’s hue indicates a promising evening. Or maybe that’s just him projecting. Please don’t let it be.
“How long do you have off?” she asks, stepping towards the curtain.
“Um, until 1800 tomorrow,” Lee says over his shoulder.
“That’s good.” He sees her flash a provocative grin before disappearing into the other room. Thank you, he mumbles.
She’s taking deeper breaths than she thought she’d need and finds herself taking longer than expected. It’s because Laura is fumbling with her buttons, too flighty to concentrate on what she’s doing. She also has a new ache to deal with, but this one isn’t from the cancer, it’s from smiling so much. Laura can’t help but be happy when the captain is around. When Lee’s with her, she can forget about dying, forget about the fact that she doesn’t stand a chance in hell at solving a quarter of the fleet’s problems.
“So, uh, how’d the hunting go today?” she hears herself asking the question even though she knows the answer.
“One Cylon raider while I was on patrol,” Lee is smiling as he is voicing the words, but Laura is frowning as she is mouthing them, “but I shot it down.” She grins and thanks the Gods he’s okay.
He knows about the cancer and still comes, still wants her to work him in her hectic schedule. Why does he want to see me, Laura often wonders before reminding herself to stop wondering and just take the gifts the gods give out. Knowing he’s survived all of this and is now waiting for her, she didn’t think she could ever feel this way about someone. It certainly wasn’t like this with Richard. She stifles a curse as she catches herself buttoning the shirt up wrong. It’s Lee’s fault, he’s the cause of her nerves. He’s here, he’s smiling, and he’s been giving her looks for two weeks, wanting to stay later at the meetings, coming in earlier than arranged.
Apollo doesn’t want to ask, but wants to know. He takes the chance. “How are you feeling?”
“Um, not so bad today, just a few problems,” he hears her say a little distractedly from the other room.
“Problems?”
If you only knew, she thinks.
When she told him about the cancer, Lee was grateful that he’d been able to keep his emotions in check in front of her. Thankfully, the shuttle back to Galactica had been empty. He’d held back his tears just long enough for the shuttle to depart the Colonial and had felt them fall until it docked with Galactica.
From the moment she’d told him, Lee made up his mind to be with her in whatever way she wanted him, for as long as she would let him. Before tonight, that had consisted of him finding time to see her for whatever military jargon she needed him to decode, for whenever she needed a champion, but he hopes tonight she might need him for something more.
“I mean, if you aren’t feeling well,” Lee curses himself as soon as the words come out of his mouth. Great, you sound like you want out.
“What, Captain? I didn’t catch that,” comes the reply and Lee’s too busy sighing in relief to analyze if she truly heard what he’d said.
“I said, you look great,” he tries again, “but wondered if you felt that way?” Yeah, that sounded nothing like what he’d said.
Lee’s seen her determined, grief-stricken, frightened, and every emotion in-between, and he’ll be damned if he’s going to screw up the chance to see her happy. The look he loves the most is the one she first gives him every time he walks into her makeshift office for a meeting. The sweet smile sweeping across her face as her eyes lighten and grow brighter, which makes him stand taller, no matter how hard his day has been. Lee’s determined to do all he can to keep that look on her face. And if she lets him, there are a few other looks he wants to see on her face also.
“I, uh, had a headache earlier, a little pain,” she waits for a moment for his response. When the silence grows she sighs, “Lee, I’m fine.”
He lets it go for now. “What are you doing?” he asks, “You’ve been in there forever.”
“Not that long, Captain,” comes her throaty reply.
Lee hears her shuffling around in her small bedroom and can hardly contain his curiosity about what she’s up to. It’s not like she has that many clothes to change into, and although her nightdress is appealing, he isn’t sure she’d be putting that on. He has no idea what she’s planning, but knowing Laura, it will be surprising. Likely she’s rummaging for something she had Billy pick up for him, a token of sorts perhaps. She’s thoughtful like that. Good thing he was raised to be thoughtful also. If she’ll let him, he’ll be attentive and compassionate and loving and much more.
“Besides, don’t you know that women are notorious for taking their time?”
“Didn’t think you were that kind.”
“Ha.” He hears the laughter in her voice as she continues, “should I even ask which kind you consider me?”
Lee smirks at her remark and takes a sip of his water. She’s still giggling and he savors the sound of it. They’ve had so little to laugh about lately. Maybe that was a nervous laugh; maybe she’s rethinking this -- what is this? It isn’t really a meeting, nor is it really a date -- an interlude perhaps in their regular lives, a respite from reality, a moment to just be Laura and Lee. Perhaps she’s thinking of all the reasons why he shouldn’t be here. He’s certainly thought about them. He hears her light footsteps coming near and sees the curtain ruffle. When it opens, all his doubts leave him and a triumphant smile spreads across his face.
“What do you think, Captain Apollo?”
“Uh….Well, ma’am, I’m not. “
Laura leans invitingly against the doorway as Lee unabashedly gapes at her figure, his blue eyes making her nervous and confident all at the same time. Due to the Cylons continuous raids and little time to eat, the denim jeans aren’t as tight as when he first saw them on her, but she’s just as beautiful as she was that night on Caprica. How can she be dying when she looks so full of life?
“You look beautiful,” he stutters.
“Thank you, Captain,” she flutters her eyes and bites at her lower lip as she straightens.
“How?”
“Just tossed them on top of my bag when I got home shoved them in without thinking. Serendipity.”
“Fate.”
Lee remembers his manners and stands. He offers Laura her glass and she gestures for him to follow her into the smaller quarters. The sparse area looks as homey as someone with no possessions can make it. Lee settles on the chaise Laura that fools herself into calling a bed as she fiddles with a transmitter. He takes a long sip of his water and drinks her in. She’s the President, but she’s Laura, that beautiful unsure woman in tight denim who walked into his favorite bar.
“I think we may be in luck tonight,” she says as she turns the transmitter dial. “Apparently, channel 85 plans to transmit music from Cloud Nine’s ballroom. Tonight it’s jazz.”
Laura turns her back to her Captain and forces her trembling hand to locate the right station. Captain Apollo, sweet, caring Captain Apollo. Why was this so much easier with Richard, so nonchalant as if having an affair was what every one did? Because, Laura, this isn’t going to be just an affair. That is, if Lee’s interested - those blue wanting eyes flash in her mind - oh, he’s interested. And that man sitting on your makeshift bed is no Adar. Those feelings that barely allow you to concentrate when he’s around are more than lust.
“Yes,” she says a little too loudly, “here it is.”
She finds the station and stands by the small dresser, swaying slightly to the song. Lee’s hand shakes as he moves the glass from his lips and catches the movement of Laura’s hips. He watches her intently, letting his eyes drift from her bare feet to those back pockets, up her back and to her deep auburn hair. He likes her relaxed, especially since he knows she has so little time to herself these days. What would they be doing now if the world hadn’t ended? Lee often wonders if he would have ever seen Laura again. Chances are not likely. Should he then be grateful to the Cylons on some level? He doesn’t want to think about the past, nor does he want to think about the future. Now he is here with her and now he can finish what he wanted to start that night in the bar in Caprica City.
“May I?” Lee asks, holding out his hand.
“I hoped you would.”
He gathers her in his arms and the two slide easily into rhythm to the sultry song crackling from the transmitter. Laura hums softly and lets her head rest on Lee’s shoulder. She likes how they can talk without saying a word to each other. She likes how Lee is still comfortable with her, even now that she’s in the powerful position she’s in and despite of the disease she carries within her. None of that seems to matter to him. Conversely, Lee knows that to her, he is simply Captain Apollo, her champion, and perhaps, her lover.
Lee takes in a deep breath of the auburn hair resting by his face, inhaling a mixture of sweet flowers and earth. She smells like home. He nuzzles her hair and breathes in again. “You smell wonderful,” he whispers.
Laura shivers as his warm breath caresses her neck. She nestles closer to him and their movements grow more confined, each making hardly any effort to move their feet. Lee slides his hands down her sides, around Laura’s waist, until his fingers reach the seam of her back pockets. Laura grins up at him as he settles his hands in them, cupping her backside.
“You feel wonderful,” she replies, her hands falling to his waist then tugging him slightly forward.
The move pulls them closer together and Laura sighs as Lee melds his body to hers. He softly caresses her throat with his mouth, sliding his lips along her delicate skin. It’s the first intimate touch Lee’s made since that night on Caprica, and one she’s missed since that evening. They’ve fallen together so easily, avoiding the discussion, the ‘what are we going to do’ talk. For all her practicality, Laura is so free with him. In was a simple conversation that got him here, an invitation with a hint of something more than just a discussion of military jargon. Billy will be out, she’d said, letting him know they’d be truly alone.
“Lee,” she whispers as her body reacts to his touch.
“Apollo,” he corrects, nipping at her the tender flesh behind her ear.
“Captain,” she flirtingly retorts and he feels her smiling.
She didn’t know if she could say these feeling for Lee were love, but she knew it was more than she’d ever felt for a man before. If dying made her determined to save humanity, it also made her realize how little time she had left to experience life for herself. She knew subterfuge, she knew how to skate around suspicion, and now, with Lee’s hands in her back pockets and his tender mouth oh so close, she’d just have to play the teacher and give her pupil some lessons.
“Mmm, that’s nice,” Laura sighs as Lee whispers kisses along her chin.
“Perhaps, but this is better,” he says, slipping his mouth over hers.
His mouth is soft and warm and full of life as Lee tugs gently on her lower lip, then nips it lightly. Laura opens to him, inviting the unique taste of him into her. Lee slides his hands from Laura’s pockets, gracefully dancing them along the edge of her waist and under her pale purple shirt. The satin caresses the backside of his hands as he kneads Laura’s smooth back then finds and opens the clasp of her bra. She moans into his mouth as he moves his hands along her skin and just under her breasts. When he closes in, Laura stills. For a second, Lee wonders if she’s changed her mind about this. They’ve been acting like lovesick school kids flirting at the drive-in, but now that the reality of what they are doing settles in, is she having doubts?
“Laura?”
Lee waits for what seems like a lifetime before she looks up at him. There’s a quiet fear dancing behind her pale eyes and the captain isn’t sure why. Then he follows Laura’s gaze from his face to her chest. Lee mentally kicks himself for not remembering. The cancer. How did he forget that? Easy to since Laura never mentioned it anymore, never acted as if she were dying. She’s so good at deflecting her own pain; she managed to make him forget. He won’t forget ever again.
“Which one?” Lee whispers.
“Left.”
Feeling the tension in her, Lee slowly withdraws and lightly kisses Laura as he glides his hands back down to her waist. The absence of his warmth makes her shiver from cold and she instantly wants his hands back touching her. Lee’s beautiful eyes are wistful as he looks at her, and Laura is paralyzed with a new fear. The fear that he might want to leave.
“1800, that’s 6, right?”
“Yes,” Lee nods, still close but still too far.
“Billy won’t be back until at least 11-Hundred,” Laura quickly adds, making the captain flash one of his amazing smiles.
“Oh, yeah?” He inches closer and Laura trembles at the idea of his touch.
“Ah, uh, told him I’d fire him if he showed up any earlier.” The light is back in her eyes along with a hint of mischief.
“Confident I’d be staying?” Lee reaches for her and settles his hands on her waist, his fingers slipping under the satin shirt and back up her body, caressing her bare skin along the way. He can’t tell if his hands are trembling or she’s shivering.
“Hopeful,” she admits, her breathing growing deeper.
Lee waits a moment for the trembling to subside before he begins to unbutton her shirt from the bottom and Laura relaxes. Her amazing Apollo, such tenderness beneath all the warrior armor, and the name is so fitting. Her mortal god of music and poetry and medicine, all the things her soul desperately needs. Lee’s hands brush back up and settle in the spot just below her collar. Her shirt is undone and Lee is moving off her body, inch by tantalizing inch until she feels the air stir as it falls to her feet. Laura’s thumbs linger in the loops of his jeans and she gently tugs him even closer to her.
“You gonna let me keep my shirt on?”
“Of course not, Captain,” Laura seductively says, “Fair is fair, after all, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With that, Laura begins slowly unbuttoning his crisp white shirt; her fingers deftly pushing the cloth from Lee’s smooth chest and off his muscled shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Lee rests his hands on her hips and holds her eyes with his while Laura takes a moment to build her confidence. It amazes him how she can be so tough and fiery with his father, but is almost demure with him now. She’s so beautiful and perfect in his eyes, he wants her to see that, wants her to feel that.
“Did I mention how beautiful you are?” he muses.
“I remember hearing it, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again.”
“You’re beautiful, Laura.”
The sweet timber of his voice fills her, soothes her and she lets the bra fall soundlessly to the floor, landing beside the purple satin shirt. Lee takes her in and she allows him to. When she lowers her head, Lee shifts his hand to her chin and makes her look at him. He then slides his hand along her arm before tangling his fingers with hers. Lee holds her hand, pulls it to his lips and sweetly kisses each finger. Laura feels a bolt of warmth surge through her with each tender touch. He pulls her closer then and, as the sultry jazz wafts throughout her small room, Lee holds her tight as their mouths dance. Soon the denim joins the rest of their clothing and they find themselves tangled on her improvised bed.
“I’ve dreamt of this,” Lee murmurs as he kisses her throat.
His hands are in her tousled hair as he draws back to see Laura’s eyes glistening. Her face is flushed, her lips slightly swollen, and they’ve only just begun exploring each other. Laura’s fingers draw slow circles on his back and, for a moment, Lee thinks she might cry. He takes her in, giving her the space she needs, wanting her to be comfortable with him, wanting her to let him comfort her. Laura finds herself lost in blue eyes darkened with desire and knows whatever she is feeling, Lee is feeling too. He’s looking at her which such intensity, admiration even. Why did it take the end of the world for her to find the man she’d been searching for her entire life?
“I thought I was dreaming,” she whispers at last, staring straight into his eyes with such a lissome look it nearly breaks his heart. “When I looked up and saw you, I thought, it’s all a dream. There’s my Captain Apollo, why would he be here if it wasn’t a dream?”
“I thought I was in a nightmare until I saw you,” he confesses, “then I was almost grateful.”
Laura smiles sadly then raises up to kiss him again.
“My Captain Apollo. Lucky me that you were scheduled for the same ceremony.”
“Lucky me that you walked into that bar.”
“So this isn’t a dream?”
“If it is, at least we’re sharing the same one.”
His kiss is tender as he pulls her closer and wraps her in his arms. Seven months until the elections, Lee thinks and remembers her somber admittance… “I may not be here.” The thought makes him weak. Laura feels Lee go lax for the briefest of seconds and her heart skips, but then his strong arms are pressing her closer to him and she feels his body warm and alive against hers.
Four months, if you’re lucky, the doctor on Caprica had said. She’d hidden her affair with Adar for almost a decade, so what were a couple of months compared to that? Laura pulls Lee closer and runs her fingers through his dark hair. His kisses are becoming greedy, demanding all she has to give him, and while she still can, Laura decides to not deny her Captain Apollo anything.
Their lovemaking tires her, but Lee holds her close as she sleeps soundly for the first time since the attacks. When she wakes in the middle of the night, his spicy scent fills her senses. She trails a finger along his chest, watching him awaken. Her mouth presses gently against his lips as sleep leaves him and he takes her in his arms. They move slowly this time, learning all the steps in this new intimate dance of theirs. And when they drift off to sleep, both know this night is only the first of many more to come.
~finis~