Fic - "Revelation Seven part 2"
Woo! Part two! Basically an AU explorng the idea that Felix was actually Number Seven and woke up on the base star with Ellen Tigh being all "My favorite!" at his goo tank.
His eye hurt but he didn’t touch it. Touching the swelled mess wasn’t going to make it feel better. He was just glad the guards had pulled Kara Thrace off him before she had gouged his eye out. Lucky that. It wasn’t as though he could just wake up in a tank of goo and claim a new body. The guards had dragged him to the brig, the regular brig, not the Cylon isolation cage, bound his wrists and arms in the heavy duty shackles that Sharon had worn. That wasn’t a surprise either.
He was still amazed that he hadn’t been shot.
He didn’t know the guard. It looked like some fifteen year old kid that had been shoved into a uniform and handed a rifle. A replacement because of the mutiny, the marines and security people had crossed over as units, tired of being cannon fodder and janitors for the rest of the crew. Gunny Mathias had been popular and the fact that her death had been treated like it was just another used up peg on the pegboard that needed to be replaced had enraged the security people. Still, the young teen made him feel guilty. The man or woman who used to wear the uniform the kid was using was dead or in jail.
Stop, he told himself. That part of your life is over. The fact that he wasn’t already dead meant that the Admiral was at least considering Ellen’s story. But it would only work if he kept his head and didn’t fall apart over what was done. Ellen was right in that respect. Everyone had to buy the story and that meant he had to make it work. Despite how he felt.
The hatch door opened and the guard stood as Dr. Cottle stepped in. The man had his medical bag. He eyed Felix carefully and then turned to the guard. “I have orders to physically examine the Cylon prisoner.”
Felix stood up and put his shackled wrists up to the small break in the bars where the food tray would theoretically go. The guard immediately jerked and spun around, holding the rifle up. Felix stopped moving, but he didn’t back away. “Dr. Cottle,” he said quietly, “I assume you’re going to want to examine my entire body which means I will have to take my clothes off.”
“That’s generally how physical exams are done,” Cottle said after a moment.
“So there’s two ways that happens,” he said to the guard. “You take off the shackles, and I undress. Or you leave the shackles, and then you have to come inside this cell and cut my clothes off. Your choice. I won’t fight you. I’m not interested in being shot.”
Cottle snorted. Felix almost reacted and then forced himself to keep calm. That was Cottle’s dour sense of humor coming into play. The Felix Gaeta who had spent the last eighteen months sitting in a cell on a Cylon base star would not understand that Cottle was finding the moment ironic considering how recently a version of Felix Gaeta *was* shot. He kept his expression calm, and quizzical, and after a moment, Cottle seemed to have moved on. The older man physically grabbed the rifle. “He’s got a point, son. Now, I think Mr. Gaeta here is attempting to make this easier. Take off the shackles.”
The guard nodded nervously and unlocked the shackles. Felix looked at Cottle. “How naked do I need to get?”
“Leave your shorts on unless there’s something significantly different happening down there,” Cottle said after a moment. “You know the drill… or you should. I’m looking for identifying marks.” Which was a protocol Felix remembered writing up. Cylons were identical but they did occasionally have identifying marks which could help in keeping track of who was who. It was clear that Cottle was noticing and marking down differences. And there were a lot. Along with the refreshing lack of bullet wounds, his right leg didn’t even have a scar and his tattoos were gone. “Put your clothes back on.” Cottle turned to the guard. “Put the chains back on and then open the cell door.”
“Sir?” The guard’s voice cracked. Felix had to admit, he was surprised as well.
“He’s injured. That cut over his eye needs suturing.” Cottle eyed him. “The Admiral hasn’t made any decision yet and until he does, we treat the injuries of prisoners, even Cylon prisoners. And Mr. Gaeta, are you going to kill me if I step in there and put a bandage on you?”
“No.” He allowed the guard to redo the bonds and then stepped away from the door. After a moment Cottle stepped into the cell and had him sitting on the bunk while he swabbed the small wound.
“Do you know why Thrace attacked you?” Cottle asked conversationally.
Felix didn’t fall for it. Mentally he gave Cottle some plus points, because he understood exactly what Cottle was doing, and the man was doing it well. By now, Ellen would have told her story, and if the Admiral was considering it, he still had to consider the possibility that Felix was the same Felix Gaeta who had just caused a lot of violence. The best kinds of lies, he reminded himself, are the ones that are closest to the truth. He could only imagine how people would have reacted to discovering he was a Cylon right after New Caprica, but he had an idea of what it would have looked like. “I assume,” he said carefully, “ it was because I’m a Cylon and she felt betrayed.” He shrugged. “She’s got a temper, she always did. And… the Cylons had her in some sort of creepy lockdown experiment. I’m surprised more people didn’t join in.” He hesitated. Cottle was a clever bastard, which made it difficult to lie to him. “The other Seven… is he in the other brig area?”
“Other Seven? Is that your real name? Seven?” Cottle asked.
“My name is Felix Gaeta, but according to Cavil and Ellen, I am a Seven model.” It was still difficult to say. The story had to be maintained though. “Maybe Cavil lied to me. He told me when I woke up on the base star that he had used my memories to plant another Seven in the fleet. Cavil would taunt me, telling me it was a matter of time before he activated the sleeper agent that looked like me. I don’t know what Cavil was planning, and I was never allowed any access to the base star records… but if there’s another Felix Gaeta in the fleet, you should have him isolated.” Only idiots would have ignored the obvious threat but it would be suspicious if he didn’t mention it. It was part of Ellen’s story as well.
Cottle began to fuss with his bag. “That isn’t going to be a problem.” He pointed at the guard. “You… go get some ice.” Felix wasn’t surprised that the guard didn’t argue about leaving the doctor alone in the cell with a Cylon. It was a test, he thought, and risky for Cottle and the kid with the gun didn’t even seem to realize it. He didn’t move as Cottle began to suture the wound. More conversationally, the doctor said, “Don’t you want to know what happened? To the other Felix Gaeta?”
Felix hesitated. “There are only four possibilities, and none are very pleasant.” He waited until Cottle nodded for him to continue. “The obvious possibility is that Cavil lied. There’s no other Felix Gaeta. Cavil said he only preserved me because he was curious to see how my model handled the sleeper agent process. He constantly said that my line was defective and deserved to be destroyed so maybe he lied and for the last eighteen months, everyone thought Felix Gaeta died on New Caprica. Second, Cavil did plant another Felix Gaeta with my memories… but it’s been eighteen months and people get killed all the time in attacks. You said it wasn’t a problem, if the Cylon sleeper agent died… then I am the only problem. The third possibility is that it’s not a problem because Felix Gaeta is sitting in a brig cell after being arrested a few hours ago. Poor guy.”
“And the fourth possibility?” Cottle pressed.
“It’s not a problem because Cavil activated the sleeper agent and he did something awful.” He sighed. “Which means I am not likely to be met with any sympathy.”
Cottle eyed him. “What were you thinking, coming here, Felix? You have to know what is being discussed right now.”
“I know.” The best lies really were the ones that had an element of the truth and that made it easier. “Cavil made it clear to me that he was only keeping me alive to taunt Ellen. She’s a Cylon but different…” Ellen had suggested that he play dumb about the final five since the concept had never been discussed on New Caprica. “She said there was nothing wrong with my… line and that Cavil had destroyed all the Sevens out of spite. When she decided to escape… I was only there as a pawn to control her. Cavil would kill me slowly, he said as much, if Ellen did anything to cross him. Coming here…” He let a note of despair enter his voice. “A ride out the airlock, or a bullet to the head… at least it’s quick that way. Cavil’s a monster.”
The guard came back, holding a bag of ice that Cavil took and then handed to him. “Hold it to your eye. You’ll live. Any questions?”
Dee, forgive me, he said to himself, and let the memory of the last time he saw her flood his brain. “I only saw one base star… Dualla was assigned to the Pegasus. I know, I’m a Cylon… but she was my friend. Did she make it off? Is she all right?”
Cottle’s expression grew sad, and Felix was struck suddenly by just how tired and beaten the old man looked. “She made it off the Pegasus during the escape… but she’s dead now. She shot herself. I’m sorry.” The doctor hesitated. “You… the other Seven… didn’t cause that.”
Felix nodded. Then he hugged his arms around himself and cried, and prayed that Dee would forgive him for using her memory to trick Cottle into trusting him. He also prayed that it worked.
~*~
tagged as revelations
His eye hurt but he didn’t touch it. Touching the swelled mess wasn’t going to make it feel better. He was just glad the guards had pulled Kara Thrace off him before she had gouged his eye out. Lucky that. It wasn’t as though he could just wake up in a tank of goo and claim a new body. The guards had dragged him to the brig, the regular brig, not the Cylon isolation cage, bound his wrists and arms in the heavy duty shackles that Sharon had worn. That wasn’t a surprise either.
He was still amazed that he hadn’t been shot.
He didn’t know the guard. It looked like some fifteen year old kid that had been shoved into a uniform and handed a rifle. A replacement because of the mutiny, the marines and security people had crossed over as units, tired of being cannon fodder and janitors for the rest of the crew. Gunny Mathias had been popular and the fact that her death had been treated like it was just another used up peg on the pegboard that needed to be replaced had enraged the security people. Still, the young teen made him feel guilty. The man or woman who used to wear the uniform the kid was using was dead or in jail.
Stop, he told himself. That part of your life is over. The fact that he wasn’t already dead meant that the Admiral was at least considering Ellen’s story. But it would only work if he kept his head and didn’t fall apart over what was done. Ellen was right in that respect. Everyone had to buy the story and that meant he had to make it work. Despite how he felt.
The hatch door opened and the guard stood as Dr. Cottle stepped in. The man had his medical bag. He eyed Felix carefully and then turned to the guard. “I have orders to physically examine the Cylon prisoner.”
Felix stood up and put his shackled wrists up to the small break in the bars where the food tray would theoretically go. The guard immediately jerked and spun around, holding the rifle up. Felix stopped moving, but he didn’t back away. “Dr. Cottle,” he said quietly, “I assume you’re going to want to examine my entire body which means I will have to take my clothes off.”
“That’s generally how physical exams are done,” Cottle said after a moment.
“So there’s two ways that happens,” he said to the guard. “You take off the shackles, and I undress. Or you leave the shackles, and then you have to come inside this cell and cut my clothes off. Your choice. I won’t fight you. I’m not interested in being shot.”
Cottle snorted. Felix almost reacted and then forced himself to keep calm. That was Cottle’s dour sense of humor coming into play. The Felix Gaeta who had spent the last eighteen months sitting in a cell on a Cylon base star would not understand that Cottle was finding the moment ironic considering how recently a version of Felix Gaeta *was* shot. He kept his expression calm, and quizzical, and after a moment, Cottle seemed to have moved on. The older man physically grabbed the rifle. “He’s got a point, son. Now, I think Mr. Gaeta here is attempting to make this easier. Take off the shackles.”
The guard nodded nervously and unlocked the shackles. Felix looked at Cottle. “How naked do I need to get?”
“Leave your shorts on unless there’s something significantly different happening down there,” Cottle said after a moment. “You know the drill… or you should. I’m looking for identifying marks.” Which was a protocol Felix remembered writing up. Cylons were identical but they did occasionally have identifying marks which could help in keeping track of who was who. It was clear that Cottle was noticing and marking down differences. And there were a lot. Along with the refreshing lack of bullet wounds, his right leg didn’t even have a scar and his tattoos were gone. “Put your clothes back on.” Cottle turned to the guard. “Put the chains back on and then open the cell door.”
“Sir?” The guard’s voice cracked. Felix had to admit, he was surprised as well.
“He’s injured. That cut over his eye needs suturing.” Cottle eyed him. “The Admiral hasn’t made any decision yet and until he does, we treat the injuries of prisoners, even Cylon prisoners. And Mr. Gaeta, are you going to kill me if I step in there and put a bandage on you?”
“No.” He allowed the guard to redo the bonds and then stepped away from the door. After a moment Cottle stepped into the cell and had him sitting on the bunk while he swabbed the small wound.
“Do you know why Thrace attacked you?” Cottle asked conversationally.
Felix didn’t fall for it. Mentally he gave Cottle some plus points, because he understood exactly what Cottle was doing, and the man was doing it well. By now, Ellen would have told her story, and if the Admiral was considering it, he still had to consider the possibility that Felix was the same Felix Gaeta who had just caused a lot of violence. The best kinds of lies, he reminded himself, are the ones that are closest to the truth. He could only imagine how people would have reacted to discovering he was a Cylon right after New Caprica, but he had an idea of what it would have looked like. “I assume,” he said carefully, “ it was because I’m a Cylon and she felt betrayed.” He shrugged. “She’s got a temper, she always did. And… the Cylons had her in some sort of creepy lockdown experiment. I’m surprised more people didn’t join in.” He hesitated. Cottle was a clever bastard, which made it difficult to lie to him. “The other Seven… is he in the other brig area?”
“Other Seven? Is that your real name? Seven?” Cottle asked.
“My name is Felix Gaeta, but according to Cavil and Ellen, I am a Seven model.” It was still difficult to say. The story had to be maintained though. “Maybe Cavil lied to me. He told me when I woke up on the base star that he had used my memories to plant another Seven in the fleet. Cavil would taunt me, telling me it was a matter of time before he activated the sleeper agent that looked like me. I don’t know what Cavil was planning, and I was never allowed any access to the base star records… but if there’s another Felix Gaeta in the fleet, you should have him isolated.” Only idiots would have ignored the obvious threat but it would be suspicious if he didn’t mention it. It was part of Ellen’s story as well.
Cottle began to fuss with his bag. “That isn’t going to be a problem.” He pointed at the guard. “You… go get some ice.” Felix wasn’t surprised that the guard didn’t argue about leaving the doctor alone in the cell with a Cylon. It was a test, he thought, and risky for Cottle and the kid with the gun didn’t even seem to realize it. He didn’t move as Cottle began to suture the wound. More conversationally, the doctor said, “Don’t you want to know what happened? To the other Felix Gaeta?”
Felix hesitated. “There are only four possibilities, and none are very pleasant.” He waited until Cottle nodded for him to continue. “The obvious possibility is that Cavil lied. There’s no other Felix Gaeta. Cavil said he only preserved me because he was curious to see how my model handled the sleeper agent process. He constantly said that my line was defective and deserved to be destroyed so maybe he lied and for the last eighteen months, everyone thought Felix Gaeta died on New Caprica. Second, Cavil did plant another Felix Gaeta with my memories… but it’s been eighteen months and people get killed all the time in attacks. You said it wasn’t a problem, if the Cylon sleeper agent died… then I am the only problem. The third possibility is that it’s not a problem because Felix Gaeta is sitting in a brig cell after being arrested a few hours ago. Poor guy.”
“And the fourth possibility?” Cottle pressed.
“It’s not a problem because Cavil activated the sleeper agent and he did something awful.” He sighed. “Which means I am not likely to be met with any sympathy.”
Cottle eyed him. “What were you thinking, coming here, Felix? You have to know what is being discussed right now.”
“I know.” The best lies really were the ones that had an element of the truth and that made it easier. “Cavil made it clear to me that he was only keeping me alive to taunt Ellen. She’s a Cylon but different…” Ellen had suggested that he play dumb about the final five since the concept had never been discussed on New Caprica. “She said there was nothing wrong with my… line and that Cavil had destroyed all the Sevens out of spite. When she decided to escape… I was only there as a pawn to control her. Cavil would kill me slowly, he said as much, if Ellen did anything to cross him. Coming here…” He let a note of despair enter his voice. “A ride out the airlock, or a bullet to the head… at least it’s quick that way. Cavil’s a monster.”
The guard came back, holding a bag of ice that Cavil took and then handed to him. “Hold it to your eye. You’ll live. Any questions?”
Dee, forgive me, he said to himself, and let the memory of the last time he saw her flood his brain. “I only saw one base star… Dualla was assigned to the Pegasus. I know, I’m a Cylon… but she was my friend. Did she make it off? Is she all right?”
Cottle’s expression grew sad, and Felix was struck suddenly by just how tired and beaten the old man looked. “She made it off the Pegasus during the escape… but she’s dead now. She shot herself. I’m sorry.” The doctor hesitated. “You… the other Seven… didn’t cause that.”
Felix nodded. Then he hugged his arms around himself and cried, and prayed that Dee would forgive him for using her memory to trick Cottle into trusting him. He also prayed that it worked.
~*~
tagged as revelations