Fic - "A Child of Pan" part six
Hey look - after a lengthy hold, the crackfic is back! Season four AU where Gaeta is a werewolf, and Hoshi is a vampire! Honestly, this part is probably less funny, but I need to set up where the story goes. Written as a birthday gift for tin_o_biscuits
A frakking meeting with the Admiral and President. Kara didn’t want to deal with it. She was still trying to internalize what she had found on Earth. And it wasn't just her, judging by the number of people grabbing fresh uniforms. Helo, Racetrack, Sharon... more than just what she thought of as the inner circle. That was her, and sometimes Colonel Tigh, and Lee before he turned into a civilian, but as she walked to the Admiral's quarters, she spotted Lee in his politician's suit making his way there was well. looking behind her, she could see Cottle with Ishay, huffing his way down the corridor as well.
"Lee, do you know what’s going on?" she asked as she took up position along side him.
Lee shrugged. "The President is involved." His voice was firm and hard. "I hope she is ready to start making decisions again. People are getting angry."
Kara said nothing to that. She was already noticing hostile glares from any number of the crew, people who wouldn't have dared look her in the eye before the Demetrious. Before Earth was a burnt cinder. Lee hadn't asked her any questions about it, and she wanted to keep it that way. "People need to shut their mouths."
"They want answers," Lee said after a long moment. "I can't blame them. With all the Cylons running around the fleet, and food running low, I'm worried things are going to explode in the civilian ships."
"You're getting soft," she sniffed.
"The last thing we need is a civilian mutiny," he countered. They entered the Admiral's quarters. She noticed that it mostly the senior staff and senior pilots. Hoshi, who she didn't consider so high in the chain was there, and he was playing tug o'war with a very large wolfish black dog. That was new, she thought, and odd. The Admiral looked fiercely grim while President Roslin seemed both amused and pensive. Something bad then. They were clearly waiting for more people, so she went over to Hoshi. "Did you replace Gaeta with a dog?"
Hoshi frowned darkly and let go of the towel he was teasing the dog with. "No I didn't, Captain Thrace."
"Don't get pissy," she said easily. "Where'd the dog come from?" She grabbed the towel and pulled but the dog dropped it almost in seconds, laid its ears back and growled, barring its teeth. "What the hell?"
Hoshi pulled the dog back. "Don't do that," he hissed to the dog. "Be good!"
"That's frakking right," Adama said suddenly, striding over. He waved his finger at the dog. "Don't make me regret helping you." Kara was amused to see the dog visibly cringe.
"Stupid dog," Kara said, smirking at it as she walked back to Lee's side. In a matter of minutes, all of the senior staff was there, and Tom Zarek as well. No press, which surprised her not at all. The old man had no love for the press. What did surprise her was the arrival of what was obviously an invited Cylon delegation. A Six, a Two, and an Eight. They all looked awkward and nervous and they seemed to be the final people that Adama was waiting for.
He looked at the assembled group, and they all quieted down. Then he sighed. "What I am about to tell you is going to sound very...very difficult to believe, but I do have proof, which will be... displayed." He took a deep breath. "There are werewolves on the Galactica."
There was a long pause. Someone tittered and Adama glared furiously. "I said there would be proof."
Finally Lee said, obviously hesitant. "You know sir... you've been under a lot of pressure..." The Cylons nodded worriedly, which amused Kara greatly. They were smart enough to understand that they were still alive due to Adama's patience. If the old man had snapped, the next admiral might not be so accommodating to them.
"I think a demonstration might be in order," Roslin said quietly. "The scripture refers to these individuals as the Children of Pan. It is real. I've seen it." That led to more murmuring and despite herself, Kara felt a twinge of fear. It was possible that both Adama and Roslin had flipped, but Cottle seemed more relieved and amused than frightened... And there was a large wolfish looking dog in the Admiral's quarters. Werewolves, the Children of Pan, were notorious for killing whoever the gods found objectionable. She eyed the wolf. Bring it on, furboy, she thought darkly.
"Lt. Gaeta," Adama said tiredly. "Please demonstrate."
Gaeta? she thought numbly as the wolf padded forward, jumped, and then suddenly morphed into a huge hulking monster before her eyes, Gaeta was a Child of Pan? Well, that’s just frakking great, she thought as the beast stared at her with cold yellow eyes. It looked to the Admiral.
"As you ordered, sir." It sounded like a deeper, more growly version of Felix Gaeta. There were a number of gasps of shock, the three Cylons looked almost grey faced with terror.
Adama eyed them all. "I trust no one still thinks I've gone insane."
Tigh pushed himself to the front of the small group of officers. Kara could smell the ambrosia on him, and Gaeta seemed to sniff and then wince as well. The colonel pointed a finger at Gaeta. "You're a frakking werewolf? You kept this hidden from everyone?"
"I think people who turned out to be hidden Cylons really shouldn't be so judgmental, sir." Gaeta rumbled. That sparked several snickers as people seemed to accept that the giant furry thing with huge teeth and claws had Gaeta's wickedly sharp sense of humor. It didn't ease her mind though. She had an idea of where the Admiral was going and she didn't like it.
"I'm told by Dr. Cottle that this is a genetic disorder, and that at least eleven other members of the Galactica's crew suffer from this... problem. I don't know who they are, but I plan to ask them to reveal themselves." Adama seemed somewhere between exhausted, drunk, shocked, and irritated. "I am bringing this situation as Lt. Gaeta is no longer able to keep his... genetic disorder a secret.
There was another long silence. Helo hesitantly raised his hand. "Is there... a reason Lt. Gaeta couldn't keep this secret? I mean, no offense Felix, but we're going to have one hell of a time finding a uniform for you. And the hallways are going to be a problem, with you being this… big."
"Mr. Gaeta, please continue the demonstration," Adama said tiredly. "So we can make sure that the rumors don't get too ridiculous."
Gaeta nodded and in seconds the wolfman demorphed into the Felix Gaeta she had known for years. Except that she didn't normally see him standing naked in the Admiral's quarters. After being a werewolf.
Hoshi easily handed him the towel they had been playing with earlier. Kara's eyes narrowed. Something was off, but she couldn't quite place what it was. Until Racetrack stepped forward and pointed at Gaeta.
"What the frak, Gaeta!" she said loudly. "Your leg grew back! That explains it! I couldn't believe you'd be so stupid to tell anyone.... But the Gaeta clan has the quick change and whole size thing. Since when did they have the regeneration gift?" As everyone turned to stare at her, she rolled her eyes and turned to Adama, pulling herself into the position of attention. "You don't need to ask, Admiral. I am also a werewolf."
There was a hushed gasp. Adama gestured for Racetrack to stand over next to Gaeta. "Is anyone else in the room a werewolf? President Roslin and I have already agreed that since these people have been loyal members of the crew, that no harm will come to them if they come forward."
Kara looked around. Ishay looked nervous but raised her hand and stepped forward. After a moment, so did Hotdog and Skulls. Oh great, she thought, this is just frakking great.
~*~
Cottle couldn't help but be pleased. He didn't believe in keeping secrets, after all was said and done. Secrets, medical and otherwise, had a tendency to fester until they blew up. Felix Gaeta was damn lucky he hadn't lost it in a frenzy on the Demetrious, and Cottle already had written up a list of things that the Admiral needed to be aware of. Namely what the various cycles of each person were, and how it wasn't really smart to seriously injure them, but at least people were aware of it now. It would be awkward and difficult for the people affected, and he had agreed with Adama that it would be best to put the werewolf personnel in their own separate quarters. He didn't feel like dealing with the fights and challenges, and there was going to be a lot of staring. They deserved to have a safe place, and it was something that he knew they preferred. Werewolves were very social creatures. He wasn't entirely certain of the details, but the ones on the Galactica intentionally avoided each other in order to keep things calm. That tended to make them lonely and depressed.
Not that there weren't a million reasons to be lonely and depressed but he suspected that being able to talk about things, with each other, would help some of that. Gods, he thought with no small amount of humor, I'm a frakking psychiatrist for werewolves. It wasn't what he expected when he took the oath, that was for godsdamned sure.
As he strode into the sickbay, he noticed that the staff looked... scared. He didn't understand why. The Admiral hadn't made his announcement yet. One of the young nurses came up to him. "Dr. Cottle, we have a problem... the new orderly freaked out after going into the morgue. He won't go back in... He says one of the corpses bit him, that Lt. Dualla sat up and bit his arm."
If it hadn't been Lt. Dualla, he would have just written it off as yet another new orderly that couldn't handle the job. But Lt. Dualla slept just a few feet away from Lt. Gaeta, who had a boyfriend who had a nasty, supernatural habit. Godsdammit, he thought darkly, you won't touch your boyfriend but you get lazy and you sneak drinks from the most convenient source. "I'll handle it," he said. "I want you to call Lt. Hoshi down here. If anyone complains, advise them that it concerns Admiral Adama's upcoming announcement to the fleet." That would get the lovesick bloodsucker down there fast.
In the meantime, he had to deal with the mess Louis Hoshi had made. He discreetly went to the refrigeration unit and grabbed a pack of blood. Werewolves he understood. He was Aquarian and the stories were stronger there, and he'd grown up on stories of the werekind tribes battling. The ones he had known over his life had been like regular people for the most part. On Aquaria they were insular, and kept to themselves, but the ones who joined the fleet were rarely a problem.
Vampires on the other hand.... The Pegasus's chief medical officer had been overly accommodating but fortunately of the ten that had been on the crew originally, only Hoshi had survived the initial attack. The bastards could live forever, and space was an ideal environment considering their health quirks about direct sunlight. His basic rule, one that Hoshi had agreed to, was that there would be no new vampires in the fleet, or on any new planet they found, until a generation had passed. They just didn't have the numbers to sustain a population of vampires. Hoshi had promised, and he was old enough to know better. "I'll be in the morgue," he said to the staff. "Send Lt. Hoshi in when he gets here."
He entered the makeshift morgue. They hadn't had a funeral for Anastasia Dualla yet, and he was beginning to think that was very lucky indeed. The room looked disheveled, as if someone had panicked and the table where Dee's body had been was empty. "Dee?"
A whimper. "I'm so thirsty..."
Frak me, Cottle thought as he stepped around the tables. Dee was huddled in the corner, rocking herself in a ball, with the sheet that had covered her wrapped around her body. As she looked up at him with haunted glowing red eyes and sharp pointed teeth, he shivered. This is the most dangerous thing you will ever do, he thought suddenly. A freshly embraced vampire that hadn't fed was like a wild animal. It should have been Hoshi, of course, but he had to deal with it before anyone else got bit. "I brought you something, Dee," he said softly as he stepped closer. He held out the pint of blood and she grabbed it out of his hand with lightening speed and bit into it. Instinct, he suspected. The real problem started when she understood what had happened. It wasn't like she had been winning any prizes for being mentally healthy lately. At least, he thought gratefully, she didn't look like she'd blown half of her head off.
It was bad enough that she was a vampire. Worse if she was walking around with the wounds she had died with, which he understood did happen to some vampires, but apparently Hoshi's bloodline was pretty. After a long moment of drinking, Dee looked up at him. The pointy teeth had retracted, he saw, and the reddish glow had dissipated.
"What... am I doing?" she asked, as she looked at the now empty plastic bag and the red smears on her hands. "Was this blood? It... tasted delicious." She seemed to suddenly realize where she was. "How am I here.... I... I thought I did something... Because Earth was awful." She started to cry.
Cottle smiled sadly, noticing for the first time the rat bite on her right calf. Dammit Hoshi, he thought. "Yes, you did do something... And in a way, you're getting a second chance but... yes, you were drinking blood. Because you're a vampire now, Dee."
"No." She said it quickly. "I'm not a vampire. Vampires aren't alive."
"You're not alive, you're undead, and there's a difference." He sighed. "Dee, you blew most of your head off yesterday. I have pictures. But... I think you were bitten by a vampire recently and.... now you're a vampire" He wasn't surprised that she began to cry. Suicidal people who didn't finish the job generally weren't happy, and barring some incredibly unpleasant options, she was now destined to outlive everyone in the fleet.
The morgue door opened and Louis Hoshi walked in. "Is something wrong? Is Felix ok?"
Cottle looked up at him and then gestured to Dualla, who was still sobbing and holding the packet of blood. "I think you've got some godsdamned explaining to do, mister."
I need a better icon for this.
A frakking meeting with the Admiral and President. Kara didn’t want to deal with it. She was still trying to internalize what she had found on Earth. And it wasn't just her, judging by the number of people grabbing fresh uniforms. Helo, Racetrack, Sharon... more than just what she thought of as the inner circle. That was her, and sometimes Colonel Tigh, and Lee before he turned into a civilian, but as she walked to the Admiral's quarters, she spotted Lee in his politician's suit making his way there was well. looking behind her, she could see Cottle with Ishay, huffing his way down the corridor as well.
"Lee, do you know what’s going on?" she asked as she took up position along side him.
Lee shrugged. "The President is involved." His voice was firm and hard. "I hope she is ready to start making decisions again. People are getting angry."
Kara said nothing to that. She was already noticing hostile glares from any number of the crew, people who wouldn't have dared look her in the eye before the Demetrious. Before Earth was a burnt cinder. Lee hadn't asked her any questions about it, and she wanted to keep it that way. "People need to shut their mouths."
"They want answers," Lee said after a long moment. "I can't blame them. With all the Cylons running around the fleet, and food running low, I'm worried things are going to explode in the civilian ships."
"You're getting soft," she sniffed.
"The last thing we need is a civilian mutiny," he countered. They entered the Admiral's quarters. She noticed that it mostly the senior staff and senior pilots. Hoshi, who she didn't consider so high in the chain was there, and he was playing tug o'war with a very large wolfish black dog. That was new, she thought, and odd. The Admiral looked fiercely grim while President Roslin seemed both amused and pensive. Something bad then. They were clearly waiting for more people, so she went over to Hoshi. "Did you replace Gaeta with a dog?"
Hoshi frowned darkly and let go of the towel he was teasing the dog with. "No I didn't, Captain Thrace."
"Don't get pissy," she said easily. "Where'd the dog come from?" She grabbed the towel and pulled but the dog dropped it almost in seconds, laid its ears back and growled, barring its teeth. "What the hell?"
Hoshi pulled the dog back. "Don't do that," he hissed to the dog. "Be good!"
"That's frakking right," Adama said suddenly, striding over. He waved his finger at the dog. "Don't make me regret helping you." Kara was amused to see the dog visibly cringe.
"Stupid dog," Kara said, smirking at it as she walked back to Lee's side. In a matter of minutes, all of the senior staff was there, and Tom Zarek as well. No press, which surprised her not at all. The old man had no love for the press. What did surprise her was the arrival of what was obviously an invited Cylon delegation. A Six, a Two, and an Eight. They all looked awkward and nervous and they seemed to be the final people that Adama was waiting for.
He looked at the assembled group, and they all quieted down. Then he sighed. "What I am about to tell you is going to sound very...very difficult to believe, but I do have proof, which will be... displayed." He took a deep breath. "There are werewolves on the Galactica."
There was a long pause. Someone tittered and Adama glared furiously. "I said there would be proof."
Finally Lee said, obviously hesitant. "You know sir... you've been under a lot of pressure..." The Cylons nodded worriedly, which amused Kara greatly. They were smart enough to understand that they were still alive due to Adama's patience. If the old man had snapped, the next admiral might not be so accommodating to them.
"I think a demonstration might be in order," Roslin said quietly. "The scripture refers to these individuals as the Children of Pan. It is real. I've seen it." That led to more murmuring and despite herself, Kara felt a twinge of fear. It was possible that both Adama and Roslin had flipped, but Cottle seemed more relieved and amused than frightened... And there was a large wolfish looking dog in the Admiral's quarters. Werewolves, the Children of Pan, were notorious for killing whoever the gods found objectionable. She eyed the wolf. Bring it on, furboy, she thought darkly.
"Lt. Gaeta," Adama said tiredly. "Please demonstrate."
Gaeta? she thought numbly as the wolf padded forward, jumped, and then suddenly morphed into a huge hulking monster before her eyes, Gaeta was a Child of Pan? Well, that’s just frakking great, she thought as the beast stared at her with cold yellow eyes. It looked to the Admiral.
"As you ordered, sir." It sounded like a deeper, more growly version of Felix Gaeta. There were a number of gasps of shock, the three Cylons looked almost grey faced with terror.
Adama eyed them all. "I trust no one still thinks I've gone insane."
Tigh pushed himself to the front of the small group of officers. Kara could smell the ambrosia on him, and Gaeta seemed to sniff and then wince as well. The colonel pointed a finger at Gaeta. "You're a frakking werewolf? You kept this hidden from everyone?"
"I think people who turned out to be hidden Cylons really shouldn't be so judgmental, sir." Gaeta rumbled. That sparked several snickers as people seemed to accept that the giant furry thing with huge teeth and claws had Gaeta's wickedly sharp sense of humor. It didn't ease her mind though. She had an idea of where the Admiral was going and she didn't like it.
"I'm told by Dr. Cottle that this is a genetic disorder, and that at least eleven other members of the Galactica's crew suffer from this... problem. I don't know who they are, but I plan to ask them to reveal themselves." Adama seemed somewhere between exhausted, drunk, shocked, and irritated. "I am bringing this situation as Lt. Gaeta is no longer able to keep his... genetic disorder a secret.
There was another long silence. Helo hesitantly raised his hand. "Is there... a reason Lt. Gaeta couldn't keep this secret? I mean, no offense Felix, but we're going to have one hell of a time finding a uniform for you. And the hallways are going to be a problem, with you being this… big."
"Mr. Gaeta, please continue the demonstration," Adama said tiredly. "So we can make sure that the rumors don't get too ridiculous."
Gaeta nodded and in seconds the wolfman demorphed into the Felix Gaeta she had known for years. Except that she didn't normally see him standing naked in the Admiral's quarters. After being a werewolf.
Hoshi easily handed him the towel they had been playing with earlier. Kara's eyes narrowed. Something was off, but she couldn't quite place what it was. Until Racetrack stepped forward and pointed at Gaeta.
"What the frak, Gaeta!" she said loudly. "Your leg grew back! That explains it! I couldn't believe you'd be so stupid to tell anyone.... But the Gaeta clan has the quick change and whole size thing. Since when did they have the regeneration gift?" As everyone turned to stare at her, she rolled her eyes and turned to Adama, pulling herself into the position of attention. "You don't need to ask, Admiral. I am also a werewolf."
There was a hushed gasp. Adama gestured for Racetrack to stand over next to Gaeta. "Is anyone else in the room a werewolf? President Roslin and I have already agreed that since these people have been loyal members of the crew, that no harm will come to them if they come forward."
Kara looked around. Ishay looked nervous but raised her hand and stepped forward. After a moment, so did Hotdog and Skulls. Oh great, she thought, this is just frakking great.
~*~
Cottle couldn't help but be pleased. He didn't believe in keeping secrets, after all was said and done. Secrets, medical and otherwise, had a tendency to fester until they blew up. Felix Gaeta was damn lucky he hadn't lost it in a frenzy on the Demetrious, and Cottle already had written up a list of things that the Admiral needed to be aware of. Namely what the various cycles of each person were, and how it wasn't really smart to seriously injure them, but at least people were aware of it now. It would be awkward and difficult for the people affected, and he had agreed with Adama that it would be best to put the werewolf personnel in their own separate quarters. He didn't feel like dealing with the fights and challenges, and there was going to be a lot of staring. They deserved to have a safe place, and it was something that he knew they preferred. Werewolves were very social creatures. He wasn't entirely certain of the details, but the ones on the Galactica intentionally avoided each other in order to keep things calm. That tended to make them lonely and depressed.
Not that there weren't a million reasons to be lonely and depressed but he suspected that being able to talk about things, with each other, would help some of that. Gods, he thought with no small amount of humor, I'm a frakking psychiatrist for werewolves. It wasn't what he expected when he took the oath, that was for godsdamned sure.
As he strode into the sickbay, he noticed that the staff looked... scared. He didn't understand why. The Admiral hadn't made his announcement yet. One of the young nurses came up to him. "Dr. Cottle, we have a problem... the new orderly freaked out after going into the morgue. He won't go back in... He says one of the corpses bit him, that Lt. Dualla sat up and bit his arm."
If it hadn't been Lt. Dualla, he would have just written it off as yet another new orderly that couldn't handle the job. But Lt. Dualla slept just a few feet away from Lt. Gaeta, who had a boyfriend who had a nasty, supernatural habit. Godsdammit, he thought darkly, you won't touch your boyfriend but you get lazy and you sneak drinks from the most convenient source. "I'll handle it," he said. "I want you to call Lt. Hoshi down here. If anyone complains, advise them that it concerns Admiral Adama's upcoming announcement to the fleet." That would get the lovesick bloodsucker down there fast.
In the meantime, he had to deal with the mess Louis Hoshi had made. He discreetly went to the refrigeration unit and grabbed a pack of blood. Werewolves he understood. He was Aquarian and the stories were stronger there, and he'd grown up on stories of the werekind tribes battling. The ones he had known over his life had been like regular people for the most part. On Aquaria they were insular, and kept to themselves, but the ones who joined the fleet were rarely a problem.
Vampires on the other hand.... The Pegasus's chief medical officer had been overly accommodating but fortunately of the ten that had been on the crew originally, only Hoshi had survived the initial attack. The bastards could live forever, and space was an ideal environment considering their health quirks about direct sunlight. His basic rule, one that Hoshi had agreed to, was that there would be no new vampires in the fleet, or on any new planet they found, until a generation had passed. They just didn't have the numbers to sustain a population of vampires. Hoshi had promised, and he was old enough to know better. "I'll be in the morgue," he said to the staff. "Send Lt. Hoshi in when he gets here."
He entered the makeshift morgue. They hadn't had a funeral for Anastasia Dualla yet, and he was beginning to think that was very lucky indeed. The room looked disheveled, as if someone had panicked and the table where Dee's body had been was empty. "Dee?"
A whimper. "I'm so thirsty..."
Frak me, Cottle thought as he stepped around the tables. Dee was huddled in the corner, rocking herself in a ball, with the sheet that had covered her wrapped around her body. As she looked up at him with haunted glowing red eyes and sharp pointed teeth, he shivered. This is the most dangerous thing you will ever do, he thought suddenly. A freshly embraced vampire that hadn't fed was like a wild animal. It should have been Hoshi, of course, but he had to deal with it before anyone else got bit. "I brought you something, Dee," he said softly as he stepped closer. He held out the pint of blood and she grabbed it out of his hand with lightening speed and bit into it. Instinct, he suspected. The real problem started when she understood what had happened. It wasn't like she had been winning any prizes for being mentally healthy lately. At least, he thought gratefully, she didn't look like she'd blown half of her head off.
It was bad enough that she was a vampire. Worse if she was walking around with the wounds she had died with, which he understood did happen to some vampires, but apparently Hoshi's bloodline was pretty. After a long moment of drinking, Dee looked up at him. The pointy teeth had retracted, he saw, and the reddish glow had dissipated.
"What... am I doing?" she asked, as she looked at the now empty plastic bag and the red smears on her hands. "Was this blood? It... tasted delicious." She seemed to suddenly realize where she was. "How am I here.... I... I thought I did something... Because Earth was awful." She started to cry.
Cottle smiled sadly, noticing for the first time the rat bite on her right calf. Dammit Hoshi, he thought. "Yes, you did do something... And in a way, you're getting a second chance but... yes, you were drinking blood. Because you're a vampire now, Dee."
"No." She said it quickly. "I'm not a vampire. Vampires aren't alive."
"You're not alive, you're undead, and there's a difference." He sighed. "Dee, you blew most of your head off yesterday. I have pictures. But... I think you were bitten by a vampire recently and.... now you're a vampire" He wasn't surprised that she began to cry. Suicidal people who didn't finish the job generally weren't happy, and barring some incredibly unpleasant options, she was now destined to outlive everyone in the fleet.
The morgue door opened and Louis Hoshi walked in. "Is something wrong? Is Felix ok?"
Cottle looked up at him and then gestured to Dualla, who was still sobbing and holding the packet of blood. "I think you've got some godsdamned explaining to do, mister."
I need a better icon for this.