The Rising Red- Chapter 10- The Raging Bull.
Hai! Ok, so I haven't actually written a new chapter in a very long time now due to all of my revision and such. It's a good job I wrote on a 3 chapter basis. Posted one, once the one 3 ahead was written. This now, means I have one more back up chapter after this. This should be ok, seems my exams are over in 3 weeks :) So, here is the next chapter. Action packed I here? I wouldn't write anything else ;)
BSG Fic- The Rising Red
(It's also uploaded at Survival Instinct for those who prefer that format.)
Summary: An angsty and slightly AU fic surrounding Adama and Roslin. The President's life is jeopardy and it's only a matter of time until it's too late.
Rated: M
Disclaimer: These character are unfortunately not mine! I'm just putting them into my own little storyline to keep me entertained.
It's set after Epiphanies and before Sacrifice in Season 2.
Thanks to my two lovely beta's
trickalicious78 and
laharah
Chapter 10- The Raging Bull Word Count:5468
Chapter 1 can be found here. Chapter 5 can be found here Chapter 9 can be found here
Chapter 2 can be found here. Chapter 6 can be found here
Chapter 3 can be found here Chapter 7 can be found here
Chapter 4 can be found here Chapter 8 can be found here.
Chapter 10- The Raging Bull.
Bill walked into CIC, his face ablaze with fury. He’d heard that a raptor had managed to get off of the ship. Before him, with worried looks on their faces, stood the Chief and Tigh who were watching Bill avidly as he walked towards them.
A fire welled in his chest, making him choke down the words that he had wanted to say when he came to the console. Deep inside him, he felt the emotion bounce across his insides, making his heart rate increase and his body buzz. It was very uncharacteristic of him to be feeling such things, and the circumstances off. People made mistakes, but why was it ticking him off so much? Deep within him the passion of his anger was pulsing through his veins, making his head swim with dark aggressive thoughts that made him feel sick to his stomach.
“Sir, we couldn’t stop them. The Raptor was ready for take off and when the order arrived…well, we couldn’t stop them. Whoever it was blew some of the circuits and the area needs repairs,” Tyrol said, the grimace spreading over his face. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Bill didn’t say anything, trying to numb what was going on inside of him. He lifted his eyes to theirs, glaring at them briefly before moving over to the dradis console. He pressed his hands onto the metal, squeezing the edges until he felt his knuckles retort painfully. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his head to his chest before returning to look at the bright icons on the screen, watching them, listening to the buzz of the mechanics and mumbling of voices behind him. As he gazed at the small icons that represented each ship he felt his heart rate increase and his breathing speed up. This person was out there, hiding amongst the people, working his evil against himself and Laura and it infuriated him.
“We think that the prisoner might have been on board the escaped raptor. It would make sense because that was the run that Jones was meant to do. We’ve heard nothing from anyone around the ship. I don’t see how they would have missed someone so big. We don’t know where the ship went as the transponder cut out. What should we do?” Tigh moved to Bill’s side, gazing up at the screen with a wounded look on his face. The silence that was coming from his friend and the almost red tint to his face was unnerving, even for someone so familiar to him.
Bill looked to his side and then closed his eyes, relaxing his clenched jaw. “I want descriptions sent out to all of the various ships in the fleet,” he said in a quiet angry mumble. “I want the search continued on board. If that bastard hasn’t got away, he’ll be hiding somewhere.”
Tigh nodded, lowering his head. “Anything else?”
A tight pain ran through Bill’s chest and he grunted, letting it run across him like a knife being twisted in his chest. He didn’t know what it was, and he rubbed the centre of his chest, turning away from Tigh and moving over to the area where Gaeta was sat, ignoring it as the feeling seemed to burn his skin. He rested against the bulkhead and watched as Gaeta looked at him nervously, twitching slightly as Bill grunted again. “Mr. Gaeta, I want every piece of information we have on D .Jones. I want his shift rotations and every little thing we know about him.”
“Aye, sir,” Gaeta said, placing down the papers he had in his hand and slipping his hand over the receiver to his left.
Bill moved away, watching as the two men he had left continued to watch him. “Fleet status,” he boomed, looking at Dualla who was leaning over her console.
Dee looked up, startled slightly. She fiddled with a few buttons and then looked up. “The fleet is quiet, sir.”
Bill nodded. “I need to talk to the President. I want every spare person searching this ship. We have to find him.” He didn’t look at Tyrol or Tigh as he turned and left, knowing it would further enrage him.
--------
Laura sat on the floor, rubbing her knee, a small tear in the fabric showing a purple bruise that was beginning to form amidst her pale skin. Her breath had begun hitching in her throat as she felt herself panic, her mind wracking through every possible thing that could happen. Although she was having doubts about what he would do, thinking his heart was not leaning towards what she would call ‘the bad side,’ but towards helping her, she knew though that she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t know him, but she thought she had seen something familiar within him, his respect for the scrolls and the paths that their lives were to take. After her brief encounter with him, she had come to think that he was a good-hearted person, but how could she be sure when her situation had arisen from a breach in trust? What if he tried to kill her? She was pretty sure that the book foretold her death to be later on than at this present moment, but she couldn’t help but panic and think the worst. After all she had a gun pointed at her and that was enough sometimes to make you doubt.
Kara felt something grab hold of her hand, and she looked down to see the President’s fingers wrapped around hers. She opened her palm, letting the fingers grip her hand, and she looked at the President, seeing the slight look of panic on her face. Kara gave her hand a gentle reassuring squeeze, the only thing she thought she could do, and then returned her gaze to Geoffrey, letting her instincts take over. Adrenaline was pumping through her body, her torso and limbs buzzing and her mind reeling through as many possibilities for a resolution as she could. She looked at the gun and the grip Geoffrey had on it, analysing his hold and the strength at which he was holding it at, wondering if she could knock it from his grip. You could tell a lot about something by the way someone held their gun. Their intentions were clear and would show their intent, even if their face didn’t.
“I need you to understand,” said Geoffrey, moving so he was directly in front of them. “A path is meant to be followed.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and turned around.
Kara leaned forward and got ready to pounce, hoping to somehow knock the gun from his hand, or reach for hers. Just as she went to jump he turned around and shook his head.
“No, you aren’t meant to do that.” He held his grip on his gun and waited for Kara to sit back down. “
“What do you want?” Starbuck spat, anger rising in her chest as she watched him hold his gun tight.
“I can feel something in the air, something negative, strong, violent, tension. It’s from someone familiar. Someone close,” he said quietly, turning his gaze to Laura who was staring at him with an intense puzzlement. “I feel it. I know that I am meant to help and protect you.”
“What do you mean?” Kara spat, getting to her knees. “Who do you need to protect her from?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think it would be intentional or something, but, I can feel it none the less. It’s thick, in the air, like smoke.” He gazed up to the painting on the wall and then turned back to Laura. “The Greying Woman, by Patrick Tinsley. A highly relevant picture do you not think? She stands alone, surrounded by colour…by life. All of it passing her by, so bright, so colourful, so vibrant and alive.” He held out his hand to Laura. “Come, tell me what you think.”
Laura side glanced to Kara who was sat, her mouth open in confusion and her eyes, like a hawk’s, watching him carefully. “Drop your gun at least.”
“No.” Geoffrey said, keeping it in his hands.
“Then you won’t mind if I keep mine with me then, will you? I don’t trust you. I don’t trust you at all.” Kara turned to where her gun was lying and reached out for it, turning her gaze back to him as she moved.
“I know you don’t. But I won’t hurt either of you. I’m just curious.” He moved forward slightly so that Laura could take his hand. When she wrapped her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet she grimaced slightly as her knee ached and the muscles around it spasmed. “Are you ok?” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. To be honest, I came here on unclear intentions. I wasn’t sure what to do and I went about it the wrong way, I know, but everything does happen for a reason. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t mean to do what I did, but it happens how it happens and there is nothing I can do to rectify that, as everything that will happen will do so because that is as it was meant to be.”
Laura watched carefully as his eyes glistened with tears. She was confused and so unclear about everything that was going on in this room. At first he had appeared and held them at gunpoint, and now he was there to protect her and, the painting, which she had so clearly identified with, was now being looked at by her attacker as if he knew what she was thinking. “I’m fine,” she whispered, letting go of his hand and rubbing it nervously down her skirt. “Why are you so interested in that picture?”
Geoffrey stared at her for a few seconds, watching her face and her eyes. “I would say it was highly relevant, wouldn’t you?”
Laura swallowed as she turned to Starbuck who looked completely confused. Then, she looked slowly around the room, gazing at everything around her. Everything that would be there when she was gone. The picture of she and Bill on the wall, the pictures of Lee and Zach. As much as she wanted to live, she knew that she might, at one point, become a memory, a photograph, a smell or just a name. The picture of the woman made her eyes sting with fresh tears. “I suppose.”
“You suppose?” Geoffrey took it off of the wall and brought it closer to them. “This woman has been cast to aside, she looks withdrawn and ill and all around her is a bounty of colour and life in which she doesn’t seem included. She-”
“Wants to live, she wants to be with the people around her. The light, which doesn’t seem to touch her, is what she craves.” Laura wiped her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew what she felt about the picture, about herself and the people around her. She’d been trying to hold onto something, something strong. “The people pass her by, continuing with their lives. She looks ill, and to me, it’s as if she has been excluded because of this. She has no one.”
“It’s only relevant because of the way you look at it. You need to understand something. I told you that there is always a glimmer of hope. You are not alone, you realise that, don’t you? I said it was relevant, I did, but, not because of what I see, but because I know what you see. You are associating yourself with this picture because of your perceptions and inner fears. If you fully embraced the possibility of survival, and not just as a side thought, because I know that you can feel yourself slipping away. If you stayed positive, you’d see beyond what was in this picture. This is another reason why I think I needed to be here. As many times as people say you are going to be alright, deep down inside you, past your thoughts, past your feelings, you aren’t sure.”
Laura took her glasses off and turned away from both of them, the tears rolling down her face. How, after everything, could he be so right about it all? Deep inside she knew he was speaking the truth. “Of course I’m not sure,” she sniffed.
“You were giving up, weren’t you? Before. Before you came to see me that time, you felt it inside and it scared you more than anything because all you know how to do now is survive. That’s what you’ve been doing for all these months, surviving. When you felt yourself cave it was something new, something alien. That’s really why you came to see me before, wasn’t it? To get answers, but what you got was hope.” Geoffrey moved a little closer to her and watched carefully as she nodded her head, knowing what he meant.
“I did.” She nervously looked at Kara. She wasn’t used to being so fragile and open in front of the younger woman and it was a little daunting. But Geoffrey seemed to know her so well that it was almost scary. His perceptions and ideas were off of this ship; what was it about him that made it easy for him to know these things? He reminded her of Billy, but slightly more perceptive. “I felt myself let go, deep within me. All of my strength, passions and motivations going, I’m getting more and more tired and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do anything, let alone hold myself together. I don’t want to give up, but I can’t help but feel as if I am. When you said that the book wasn’t complete it brought me hope, of course it did. That little bit of light that you were on about. I’m trying, I’m trying as hard as I can, but I don’t know if it will be enough.”
“Hope and love are powerful emotions. Take my word for it, you will need them, I can tell you will. You need to surge past the doubt and the worry. You need to fight for your life the way you would in battle.” He hung the picture back on the wall, straightening it.
Laura felt her body quiver, her muscles aching and her mind craving rest. She knew she had to fight, she knew that she had to be strong, but it was so hard. You needed energy, you needed strength and motivation. “I know. It’s just so hard.”
Kara stood up and gripped her gun as she walked over to Geoffrey. “Oh, you’re real good. You said you were going to help us. Fat lot of good you are!”
“I said I would come and help if my path lead me here. I have helped.” He looked at Laura as she wiped away her tears, knowing he had done something. “It just takes a lot to see, that’s all.”
-----
Bill felt the blood pump in his ears and his heart beat hard in his chest, his temper beginning to blossom into a rage. Every cell inside of him wanted to lash out at the nearest person, hurt them, punch them, kick them, to just cause someone pain. It was a horrible feeling, his whole body trembling with every step he took. He needed to see Doc Cottle, but first he had to speak to Laura.
As he came to the corridor where his quarters were, he saw two marines walking towards him. “Admiral Adama, there are no signs of the prisoner, sir.”
Bill clenched his fists and tried as hard as he could not to lash out. “Why the frak aren’t you guarding my room?”
“We were told that you wanted us to go search, sir.”
Bill didn’t say anything, instead he pounded past them, knocking both of the marines out of the way, one of them falling to the floor. The worry which he knew he had inside of him was consumed by rage he never believed existed, something he had never felt before. Both of his hands went to his head as he stopped outside the hatch, breathing hard, his head swimming as the rage took hold of his body.
As the hatch opened he walked in and his eyes fell upon the three people before him. Starbuck was stood, facing the prisoner with her gun in her hand and an angry look on her face. When he looked around again his eyes fell upon Laura’s. She was crying, her face looked worried and looked her over, searching for any injuries, his eyes fell upon her knee, purplish hue flashing out at him like a disaster beacon. Something inside of him snapped and he surged forward with his fists clenched. The rage consumed him like a fire, his body and mind being overcome with a fiery passion and an overwhelming desire to hurt someone.
As Bill’s body flew forward he heard distant yells but his mind could not register them. He had to hit something, he had to hit something hard. The prisoner’s face came into view and he brought his fist up and slammed it hard against the solid cheek of the giant, sending him to the floor. Bill’s body landed heavily onto the man’s chest, the force of the punch making him overstep and lose his balance. As he peered angrily at the man beneath him, he could see the calmness behind his eyes. The deep pools looked into Bill’s and he could see the sorrow and kindness there. There was nothing but kindness and a desire to do what was right. Bill tried to pull away but his fist collided with the prisoner’s face again, blood gushing from the man’s nose, his eyes clenching shut with pain. He would not fight back, his hands stayed by his sides. This made Bill even angrier.
“Bill, stop,” Laura yelled, watching as two marines entered the room, running to Bill, who was frantically punching Geoffrey. A deep sickening feeling washed over her as she watched the blood pour from his nose, his eyes closed tightly and his hands lying limp at his sides.
Starbuck tucked her gun into her trousers and she moved to the Admiral’s side, her hands grabbing hold of his upper arms, trying to pull him away as he began beating Geoffrey into a state. As much as she didn’t want to trust Geoffrey, she couldn’t let him die right here. “Admiral, sir, STOP!” The arm she had hold of jerked away and then flew back again, knocking her back, sending her into the President who caught her by the arm but was unable to maintain her balance. Both of them crashed to the floor with a thud.
Bill watched them fall out of the corner of his eye and the rage increased, tears welling in his eyes as they caught sight of the horrified look on Laura’s face. Two strong pairs of hands took hold of his arms and pulled him back. “Get off me! That’s an order!”
Starbuck stood up quickly and ran over to the marines, standing in front of them so she could see the Admiral’s face. “Sir, you need to calm down.”
“Get the frak off of me!”
Laura got up, slowly, and moved to Starbuck’s side, her eyes wide with worry. What was going on? Never, in the entire time that she had known Bill, had she ever seen him so filled with rage and pain as what she had just witnessed. His eyes were wide and hard, his teeth bared like a wild dog and she couldn’t help but let the shock wash over her and tears slipped down her face. “Bill,” she whispered.
Bill looked up, still trying to get free, his eyes moving to Laura’s. He watched as the tears fell down her cheeks and he felt his chest ache. She was crying because of him. A sharp pain ripped through his chest and he cried out, letting his body fall forward, the marine’s taking the weight of him as his body went limp. When his knees touched the floor, one of the marines let go, and he brought his hand up to his chest, the rage and sorrow moving to his heart, the pain consuming him. Laura’s face swam in front of him, another pain ripping through his chest and he blacked out, his whole body going limp.
Laura moved to his side and took his hand, watching as a stray tear rolled down his unconscious face. “Get Doc Cottle,” she yelled, turning to Kara, who already had her ear pressed to the receiver, her mouth moving frantically as she eyed the Admiral and the unconscious and heavily beaten Geoffrey, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and puzzlement.
---
Gaius was leaning against the table, his head resting on the palm of his hand as he watched another chemical float before him under the microscope. It was tedious, and he was tired. All he wanted to do was sleep, let himself float away for a few more hours, just so he could stop his eyes from stinging.
“Aww, is poor Gaius tired?” she said from behind him, running her hands through his hair as he gazed lazily around.
“Yes, indeed I am, but I have a lot of work to do, so do you mind?” He picked up the slide and deposited it into the area he had decided to call, ‘failures,’ alongside his other area called, ‘crap.’ It seemed as if only a handful had done anything, even if what had happened had been highly irrelevant and no use to him, but it was something. He was getting highly irritated by this job, he knew that it was all basically relying on him, and that made it even worse. A pair of hands grabbed his waist and pulled him back on the chair and he rolled his eyes. “For Gods’ sake, will you give it a rest!” he said angrily, putting his feet down on the floor.
“No need to be so angry, Gaius,” Six said, stepping around so that her body was pressed against his arm.
“As I said to you earlier,” he mumbled, pipetting another solution onto the microscope. “You don’t know anything.”
Six grabbed his head and pulled it down so that it hit the tables surface. “You know nothing! We feel pain, we feel love, we feel anger and hate. I know what anger feels like and rage and betrayal.”
Gaius rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, that’s great. Of all of the basic human functions they managed to make it so you are able to flawlessly lie!”
Six moved to his side, sitting down on the stool. “Why won’t you believe?”
“I have no proof and you are machines. What you have is what we programmed into you, it’s not the real emotion, it‘s a silicon representation.”
“It’s real, Gaius. You’ve listened to me before,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “Why are humans so afraid to believe the truths that lie before them? Why are you so ignorant? It was one of the reasons that this happened to you.”
“Oh don’t start this now. I have another Gods knows how many slides to get through now and I really don’t need this!” He moved out some new slides and began swirling solutions together before pipetting them onto the clean slides, getting the microscope ready.
“I’ve felt pain, Gaius, I’ve felt everything. Through my whole life, Gaius, I’ve felt what you can feel. You shouldn’t be so ignorant. You say you feel pain? What if you are a Cylon? Wouldn’t that mess with your theories?”
Gaius felt his hand shake and he put the equipment down on the table. “A Cylon? Don’t be so absurd! Now, you are really being ridiculous. Emotion? Love? Hate? Your whole life? You mean after they pulled you off of the conveyor belt.”
“I had a life once,” she said quietly. I would have been as ignorant as you.” She stood up and walked off to the other side of the room, her eyes locking onto his as he looked up confused.
“Oh really? Did they tell you that? When they pulled you off of the line?” He snorted slightly and shook his head.
“Everything happens for a reason, Gaius, how many times do I have to tell you? I felt love, I felt pain, I feel what you feel.”
“And as I have told you, before, it’s PROGRAMMED! You only feel stuff like that if you are-”
“Human?”
Gaius laughed and shook his head. “We are not having this conversation. It was so peaceful until you came back. Why do you do this to me? I need to get this done!”
Six shook her head and then grabbed Gaius by the arm and turned him around, squeezing until she felt her fingers dig deep into his skin. “Sharon felt love, Sharon felt pain…she thought she was human.”
“Well, yes, that was slightly different, she was a-”
“Sleeper agent? Unaware of what she was until something happened. Emotion is relative, you know, Gaius. One man’s pain is another’s heartache. And we’re very similar.”
Gaius rolled his eyes. “Yes, well, you weren’t a sleeper agent, dear. You’ve always known that you are of metal origins.”
Six slipped to the side and began walking away from him, towards the open hatch, her face cold and dark. “I said that you didn’t know anything about me, Gaius. I came to you for a mission, but I’ve had them before. I was a sleeper agent. I had a life. I had everything.”
Gaius spilled the remaining solution onto the floor and watched her avidly as she disappeared. “No. No, wait.” He sighed and slammed his hand down onto the cold surface. “I’m just tired! I didn’t mean it. Please, come back. A sleeper agent? Please, I want to listen!” He ran his hands through his hair and adjusted his glasses. What if she was telling the truth? What if she had further information to offer? It had never occurred to him before now, that she had been anything more then just a skin job, sent to on a mission to annihilate the human race. What was it that she had done before? Who had she been?
“What the frak are you doing?” Cottle said, looking down at the mess on the floor. “I need you to come with me now. I need your advice on some blood work I just took from the Admiral. He’s just been brought into the sickbay.”
“Is he ok?” Gaius nervously stood from his chair and walked quickly over to where Cottle was stood. The Admiral had to be ok. No way could Tigh ever run the ship without the Admiral, the consequences of that had been seen before, and it was not good.
---
Laura stood in the sickbay with her hand planted firmly over her mouth, trying to control herself as she watched the medics hook Bill up to monitors. She was in shock, she knew it. Never had she seen such a deep and resonating rage before and she would never have expected it from Bill of all people. His eyes had been so unfamiliar and cold, the recognition not there, the warmth that his gaze usually offered gone. She moved her hand slowly and clasped both of her hands together, watching as the people moved around her, not sure what to do or say. She wanted to know why he had been like that and where it was going to lead.
Lee walked passed her quickly, so fast that she nearly didn’t notice him. As he walked towards his father’s bed she grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “No, they’re working on him now. You need to give them their space.”
“What’s wrong with him?” he said, his voice low and almost childlike, his eyes watering and his face revealing his distress.
“I don’t know.” Laura whispered, bringing her hand back up to her mouth as she felt the tears sting at her eyes, the image of his enraged face flashing before her, making her close her eyes.
“Starbuck said that he was like an animal! That he came in and started pounding the prisoner as if he was a Cylon or something? She had never seen anything like it. I don’t understand what’s going on. She said that someone did this to him, like they did to you. I don’t understand!” His arm pulled away from her. “He didn’t tell me! He didn’t! And now this!”
“I know. I suppose he didn’t want to worry you. You’ve just recovered from that ordeal y-”
“Starbuck knew.” He said coldly, glancing at the monitors as they began showing his heart beat on the screen. “She knew, and I didn’t. She is involved and I’m not. How is that fair?”
“You’re his son. He wanted to make it easier on you, at least that’s what I think.”
“Well, you should know, he’s been with you nearly every hour of every day.”
Laura lowered her face and bit her lip, feeling Lee’s bitterness wash over her. She didn’t want to retaliate, knowing that he was in a state and probably didn’t mean anything by it. He was worried about his father.
Cottle walked over and began assessing Bill, looking over his body, looking at the machines and filling out the form he had in his hand. Gaius was watching him nervously, observing from over his shoulder. “His heart beat is steady,” Cottle said, noting it down and then turning the sheet over.
Lee felt his body fill with anger as he watched his Dad lying in the bed. He looked out of the corner of his eye and glared at Laura, his mind telling him it was her fault, but his heart telling him the opposite. He bit his lip, clenching his fists. It was no use, his temper was rising. “This is your fault,” he spat, turning towards her.
“No, it’s not,” she said, her eyes filling with fresh tears. “This was going to happen. It was meant to happen. Lee, I know you want to be mad at someone, but it’s nobody’s fault but the person doing this. Someone is doing this to him.”
Cottle jumped when the machine’s started beeping, Bill’s heart rate skyrocketing as he lay there, he looked up at the arguing couple and then to Bill, his face scrunched. “How odd,” he said, moving around to the monitor. “Will you two stop your bickering, I need quiet.”
Both Laura and Lee looked at the bed and moved forward, watching as Cottle worked on the machine. The silence from both of them seemed to wash over the room and Bill’s heart-rate stabilised.
“If he dies…” Lee shouted, staring at Laura and then to his Dad.
Laura sniffed, turning her face away and wiping her eyes. “This is someone’s fault, Captain Apollo. Someone else needs to be stopped. I did my best to make him stay.”
The machine started beeping loudly again and Cottle stared at them. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
---------
Bill could hear the mumbling of voices around him, his head aching and his blood still pumping in his ears. He felt calm, he felt better. Tiredness was washing over him and he hovered around consciousness, wondering what to do, letting his mind think.
“This is your fault.”
“No, it’s not.” He heard Laura’s voice shake and he could tell that she was beginning to cry. Almost at once he felt his ears ring and the anger begin bubbling in his chest like a volcano. It wasn’t her fault. How could it be? He could hear nothing, just the deep reverberation of voices, words undistinguishable.
His heart slowed and his ears stopped ringing, his mind beginning to calm and the fire which had erupted in his chest died down. All he wanted to do was sleep.
“If he dies…”
“This is someone’s fault, Captain Apollo. Someone else needs to be stopped. I did my best to make him stay.” Bill heard Laura sob and he tried to call out to her, let her know that it was all going to be ok. As if by chance, his ears began ringing again and the burning sensation in his stomach started, his temper rising in his chest. He wanted to scream and yell.
----
Cottle stepped out of the curtain, pulling Gaius with him. “Madam President, this is not going to be good. This is not going to be good for either of you.”
BSG Fic- The Rising Red
(It's also uploaded at Survival Instinct for those who prefer that format.)
Summary: An angsty and slightly AU fic surrounding Adama and Roslin. The President's life is jeopardy and it's only a matter of time until it's too late.
Rated: M
Disclaimer: These character are unfortunately not mine! I'm just putting them into my own little storyline to keep me entertained.
It's set after Epiphanies and before Sacrifice in Season 2.
Thanks to my two lovely beta's
trickalicious78 and
laharah
Chapter 10- The Raging Bull Word Count:5468
Chapter 1 can be found here. Chapter 5 can be found here Chapter 9 can be found here
Chapter 2 can be found here. Chapter 6 can be found here
Chapter 3 can be found here Chapter 7 can be found here
Chapter 4 can be found here Chapter 8 can be found here.
Chapter 10- The Raging Bull.
Bill walked into CIC, his face ablaze with fury. He’d heard that a raptor had managed to get off of the ship. Before him, with worried looks on their faces, stood the Chief and Tigh who were watching Bill avidly as he walked towards them.
A fire welled in his chest, making him choke down the words that he had wanted to say when he came to the console. Deep inside him, he felt the emotion bounce across his insides, making his heart rate increase and his body buzz. It was very uncharacteristic of him to be feeling such things, and the circumstances off. People made mistakes, but why was it ticking him off so much? Deep within him the passion of his anger was pulsing through his veins, making his head swim with dark aggressive thoughts that made him feel sick to his stomach.
“Sir, we couldn’t stop them. The Raptor was ready for take off and when the order arrived…well, we couldn’t stop them. Whoever it was blew some of the circuits and the area needs repairs,” Tyrol said, the grimace spreading over his face. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Bill didn’t say anything, trying to numb what was going on inside of him. He lifted his eyes to theirs, glaring at them briefly before moving over to the dradis console. He pressed his hands onto the metal, squeezing the edges until he felt his knuckles retort painfully. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his head to his chest before returning to look at the bright icons on the screen, watching them, listening to the buzz of the mechanics and mumbling of voices behind him. As he gazed at the small icons that represented each ship he felt his heart rate increase and his breathing speed up. This person was out there, hiding amongst the people, working his evil against himself and Laura and it infuriated him.
“We think that the prisoner might have been on board the escaped raptor. It would make sense because that was the run that Jones was meant to do. We’ve heard nothing from anyone around the ship. I don’t see how they would have missed someone so big. We don’t know where the ship went as the transponder cut out. What should we do?” Tigh moved to Bill’s side, gazing up at the screen with a wounded look on his face. The silence that was coming from his friend and the almost red tint to his face was unnerving, even for someone so familiar to him.
Bill looked to his side and then closed his eyes, relaxing his clenched jaw. “I want descriptions sent out to all of the various ships in the fleet,” he said in a quiet angry mumble. “I want the search continued on board. If that bastard hasn’t got away, he’ll be hiding somewhere.”
Tigh nodded, lowering his head. “Anything else?”
A tight pain ran through Bill’s chest and he grunted, letting it run across him like a knife being twisted in his chest. He didn’t know what it was, and he rubbed the centre of his chest, turning away from Tigh and moving over to the area where Gaeta was sat, ignoring it as the feeling seemed to burn his skin. He rested against the bulkhead and watched as Gaeta looked at him nervously, twitching slightly as Bill grunted again. “Mr. Gaeta, I want every piece of information we have on D .Jones. I want his shift rotations and every little thing we know about him.”
“Aye, sir,” Gaeta said, placing down the papers he had in his hand and slipping his hand over the receiver to his left.
Bill moved away, watching as the two men he had left continued to watch him. “Fleet status,” he boomed, looking at Dualla who was leaning over her console.
Dee looked up, startled slightly. She fiddled with a few buttons and then looked up. “The fleet is quiet, sir.”
Bill nodded. “I need to talk to the President. I want every spare person searching this ship. We have to find him.” He didn’t look at Tyrol or Tigh as he turned and left, knowing it would further enrage him.
--------
Laura sat on the floor, rubbing her knee, a small tear in the fabric showing a purple bruise that was beginning to form amidst her pale skin. Her breath had begun hitching in her throat as she felt herself panic, her mind wracking through every possible thing that could happen. Although she was having doubts about what he would do, thinking his heart was not leaning towards what she would call ‘the bad side,’ but towards helping her, she knew though that she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t know him, but she thought she had seen something familiar within him, his respect for the scrolls and the paths that their lives were to take. After her brief encounter with him, she had come to think that he was a good-hearted person, but how could she be sure when her situation had arisen from a breach in trust? What if he tried to kill her? She was pretty sure that the book foretold her death to be later on than at this present moment, but she couldn’t help but panic and think the worst. After all she had a gun pointed at her and that was enough sometimes to make you doubt.
Kara felt something grab hold of her hand, and she looked down to see the President’s fingers wrapped around hers. She opened her palm, letting the fingers grip her hand, and she looked at the President, seeing the slight look of panic on her face. Kara gave her hand a gentle reassuring squeeze, the only thing she thought she could do, and then returned her gaze to Geoffrey, letting her instincts take over. Adrenaline was pumping through her body, her torso and limbs buzzing and her mind reeling through as many possibilities for a resolution as she could. She looked at the gun and the grip Geoffrey had on it, analysing his hold and the strength at which he was holding it at, wondering if she could knock it from his grip. You could tell a lot about something by the way someone held their gun. Their intentions were clear and would show their intent, even if their face didn’t.
“I need you to understand,” said Geoffrey, moving so he was directly in front of them. “A path is meant to be followed.” He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and turned around.
Kara leaned forward and got ready to pounce, hoping to somehow knock the gun from his hand, or reach for hers. Just as she went to jump he turned around and shook his head.
“No, you aren’t meant to do that.” He held his grip on his gun and waited for Kara to sit back down. “
“What do you want?” Starbuck spat, anger rising in her chest as she watched him hold his gun tight.
“I can feel something in the air, something negative, strong, violent, tension. It’s from someone familiar. Someone close,” he said quietly, turning his gaze to Laura who was staring at him with an intense puzzlement. “I feel it. I know that I am meant to help and protect you.”
“What do you mean?” Kara spat, getting to her knees. “Who do you need to protect her from?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think it would be intentional or something, but, I can feel it none the less. It’s thick, in the air, like smoke.” He gazed up to the painting on the wall and then turned back to Laura. “The Greying Woman, by Patrick Tinsley. A highly relevant picture do you not think? She stands alone, surrounded by colour…by life. All of it passing her by, so bright, so colourful, so vibrant and alive.” He held out his hand to Laura. “Come, tell me what you think.”
Laura side glanced to Kara who was sat, her mouth open in confusion and her eyes, like a hawk’s, watching him carefully. “Drop your gun at least.”
“No.” Geoffrey said, keeping it in his hands.
“Then you won’t mind if I keep mine with me then, will you? I don’t trust you. I don’t trust you at all.” Kara turned to where her gun was lying and reached out for it, turning her gaze back to him as she moved.
“I know you don’t. But I won’t hurt either of you. I’m just curious.” He moved forward slightly so that Laura could take his hand. When she wrapped her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet she grimaced slightly as her knee ached and the muscles around it spasmed. “Are you ok?” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt. To be honest, I came here on unclear intentions. I wasn’t sure what to do and I went about it the wrong way, I know, but everything does happen for a reason. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t mean to do what I did, but it happens how it happens and there is nothing I can do to rectify that, as everything that will happen will do so because that is as it was meant to be.”
Laura watched carefully as his eyes glistened with tears. She was confused and so unclear about everything that was going on in this room. At first he had appeared and held them at gunpoint, and now he was there to protect her and, the painting, which she had so clearly identified with, was now being looked at by her attacker as if he knew what she was thinking. “I’m fine,” she whispered, letting go of his hand and rubbing it nervously down her skirt. “Why are you so interested in that picture?”
Geoffrey stared at her for a few seconds, watching her face and her eyes. “I would say it was highly relevant, wouldn’t you?”
Laura swallowed as she turned to Starbuck who looked completely confused. Then, she looked slowly around the room, gazing at everything around her. Everything that would be there when she was gone. The picture of she and Bill on the wall, the pictures of Lee and Zach. As much as she wanted to live, she knew that she might, at one point, become a memory, a photograph, a smell or just a name. The picture of the woman made her eyes sting with fresh tears. “I suppose.”
“You suppose?” Geoffrey took it off of the wall and brought it closer to them. “This woman has been cast to aside, she looks withdrawn and ill and all around her is a bounty of colour and life in which she doesn’t seem included. She-”
“Wants to live, she wants to be with the people around her. The light, which doesn’t seem to touch her, is what she craves.” Laura wiped her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew what she felt about the picture, about herself and the people around her. She’d been trying to hold onto something, something strong. “The people pass her by, continuing with their lives. She looks ill, and to me, it’s as if she has been excluded because of this. She has no one.”
“It’s only relevant because of the way you look at it. You need to understand something. I told you that there is always a glimmer of hope. You are not alone, you realise that, don’t you? I said it was relevant, I did, but, not because of what I see, but because I know what you see. You are associating yourself with this picture because of your perceptions and inner fears. If you fully embraced the possibility of survival, and not just as a side thought, because I know that you can feel yourself slipping away. If you stayed positive, you’d see beyond what was in this picture. This is another reason why I think I needed to be here. As many times as people say you are going to be alright, deep down inside you, past your thoughts, past your feelings, you aren’t sure.”
Laura took her glasses off and turned away from both of them, the tears rolling down her face. How, after everything, could he be so right about it all? Deep inside she knew he was speaking the truth. “Of course I’m not sure,” she sniffed.
“You were giving up, weren’t you? Before. Before you came to see me that time, you felt it inside and it scared you more than anything because all you know how to do now is survive. That’s what you’ve been doing for all these months, surviving. When you felt yourself cave it was something new, something alien. That’s really why you came to see me before, wasn’t it? To get answers, but what you got was hope.” Geoffrey moved a little closer to her and watched carefully as she nodded her head, knowing what he meant.
“I did.” She nervously looked at Kara. She wasn’t used to being so fragile and open in front of the younger woman and it was a little daunting. But Geoffrey seemed to know her so well that it was almost scary. His perceptions and ideas were off of this ship; what was it about him that made it easy for him to know these things? He reminded her of Billy, but slightly more perceptive. “I felt myself let go, deep within me. All of my strength, passions and motivations going, I’m getting more and more tired and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do anything, let alone hold myself together. I don’t want to give up, but I can’t help but feel as if I am. When you said that the book wasn’t complete it brought me hope, of course it did. That little bit of light that you were on about. I’m trying, I’m trying as hard as I can, but I don’t know if it will be enough.”
“Hope and love are powerful emotions. Take my word for it, you will need them, I can tell you will. You need to surge past the doubt and the worry. You need to fight for your life the way you would in battle.” He hung the picture back on the wall, straightening it.
Laura felt her body quiver, her muscles aching and her mind craving rest. She knew she had to fight, she knew that she had to be strong, but it was so hard. You needed energy, you needed strength and motivation. “I know. It’s just so hard.”
Kara stood up and gripped her gun as she walked over to Geoffrey. “Oh, you’re real good. You said you were going to help us. Fat lot of good you are!”
“I said I would come and help if my path lead me here. I have helped.” He looked at Laura as she wiped away her tears, knowing he had done something. “It just takes a lot to see, that’s all.”
-----
Bill felt the blood pump in his ears and his heart beat hard in his chest, his temper beginning to blossom into a rage. Every cell inside of him wanted to lash out at the nearest person, hurt them, punch them, kick them, to just cause someone pain. It was a horrible feeling, his whole body trembling with every step he took. He needed to see Doc Cottle, but first he had to speak to Laura.
As he came to the corridor where his quarters were, he saw two marines walking towards him. “Admiral Adama, there are no signs of the prisoner, sir.”
Bill clenched his fists and tried as hard as he could not to lash out. “Why the frak aren’t you guarding my room?”
“We were told that you wanted us to go search, sir.”
Bill didn’t say anything, instead he pounded past them, knocking both of the marines out of the way, one of them falling to the floor. The worry which he knew he had inside of him was consumed by rage he never believed existed, something he had never felt before. Both of his hands went to his head as he stopped outside the hatch, breathing hard, his head swimming as the rage took hold of his body.
As the hatch opened he walked in and his eyes fell upon the three people before him. Starbuck was stood, facing the prisoner with her gun in her hand and an angry look on her face. When he looked around again his eyes fell upon Laura’s. She was crying, her face looked worried and looked her over, searching for any injuries, his eyes fell upon her knee, purplish hue flashing out at him like a disaster beacon. Something inside of him snapped and he surged forward with his fists clenched. The rage consumed him like a fire, his body and mind being overcome with a fiery passion and an overwhelming desire to hurt someone.
As Bill’s body flew forward he heard distant yells but his mind could not register them. He had to hit something, he had to hit something hard. The prisoner’s face came into view and he brought his fist up and slammed it hard against the solid cheek of the giant, sending him to the floor. Bill’s body landed heavily onto the man’s chest, the force of the punch making him overstep and lose his balance. As he peered angrily at the man beneath him, he could see the calmness behind his eyes. The deep pools looked into Bill’s and he could see the sorrow and kindness there. There was nothing but kindness and a desire to do what was right. Bill tried to pull away but his fist collided with the prisoner’s face again, blood gushing from the man’s nose, his eyes clenching shut with pain. He would not fight back, his hands stayed by his sides. This made Bill even angrier.
“Bill, stop,” Laura yelled, watching as two marines entered the room, running to Bill, who was frantically punching Geoffrey. A deep sickening feeling washed over her as she watched the blood pour from his nose, his eyes closed tightly and his hands lying limp at his sides.
Starbuck tucked her gun into her trousers and she moved to the Admiral’s side, her hands grabbing hold of his upper arms, trying to pull him away as he began beating Geoffrey into a state. As much as she didn’t want to trust Geoffrey, she couldn’t let him die right here. “Admiral, sir, STOP!” The arm she had hold of jerked away and then flew back again, knocking her back, sending her into the President who caught her by the arm but was unable to maintain her balance. Both of them crashed to the floor with a thud.
Bill watched them fall out of the corner of his eye and the rage increased, tears welling in his eyes as they caught sight of the horrified look on Laura’s face. Two strong pairs of hands took hold of his arms and pulled him back. “Get off me! That’s an order!”
Starbuck stood up quickly and ran over to the marines, standing in front of them so she could see the Admiral’s face. “Sir, you need to calm down.”
“Get the frak off of me!”
Laura got up, slowly, and moved to Starbuck’s side, her eyes wide with worry. What was going on? Never, in the entire time that she had known Bill, had she ever seen him so filled with rage and pain as what she had just witnessed. His eyes were wide and hard, his teeth bared like a wild dog and she couldn’t help but let the shock wash over her and tears slipped down her face. “Bill,” she whispered.
Bill looked up, still trying to get free, his eyes moving to Laura’s. He watched as the tears fell down her cheeks and he felt his chest ache. She was crying because of him. A sharp pain ripped through his chest and he cried out, letting his body fall forward, the marine’s taking the weight of him as his body went limp. When his knees touched the floor, one of the marines let go, and he brought his hand up to his chest, the rage and sorrow moving to his heart, the pain consuming him. Laura’s face swam in front of him, another pain ripping through his chest and he blacked out, his whole body going limp.
Laura moved to his side and took his hand, watching as a stray tear rolled down his unconscious face. “Get Doc Cottle,” she yelled, turning to Kara, who already had her ear pressed to the receiver, her mouth moving frantically as she eyed the Admiral and the unconscious and heavily beaten Geoffrey, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and puzzlement.
---
Gaius was leaning against the table, his head resting on the palm of his hand as he watched another chemical float before him under the microscope. It was tedious, and he was tired. All he wanted to do was sleep, let himself float away for a few more hours, just so he could stop his eyes from stinging.
“Aww, is poor Gaius tired?” she said from behind him, running her hands through his hair as he gazed lazily around.
“Yes, indeed I am, but I have a lot of work to do, so do you mind?” He picked up the slide and deposited it into the area he had decided to call, ‘failures,’ alongside his other area called, ‘crap.’ It seemed as if only a handful had done anything, even if what had happened had been highly irrelevant and no use to him, but it was something. He was getting highly irritated by this job, he knew that it was all basically relying on him, and that made it even worse. A pair of hands grabbed his waist and pulled him back on the chair and he rolled his eyes. “For Gods’ sake, will you give it a rest!” he said angrily, putting his feet down on the floor.
“No need to be so angry, Gaius,” Six said, stepping around so that her body was pressed against his arm.
“As I said to you earlier,” he mumbled, pipetting another solution onto the microscope. “You don’t know anything.”
Six grabbed his head and pulled it down so that it hit the tables surface. “You know nothing! We feel pain, we feel love, we feel anger and hate. I know what anger feels like and rage and betrayal.”
Gaius rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, that’s great. Of all of the basic human functions they managed to make it so you are able to flawlessly lie!”
Six moved to his side, sitting down on the stool. “Why won’t you believe?”
“I have no proof and you are machines. What you have is what we programmed into you, it’s not the real emotion, it‘s a silicon representation.”
“It’s real, Gaius. You’ve listened to me before,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “Why are humans so afraid to believe the truths that lie before them? Why are you so ignorant? It was one of the reasons that this happened to you.”
“Oh don’t start this now. I have another Gods knows how many slides to get through now and I really don’t need this!” He moved out some new slides and began swirling solutions together before pipetting them onto the clean slides, getting the microscope ready.
“I’ve felt pain, Gaius, I’ve felt everything. Through my whole life, Gaius, I’ve felt what you can feel. You shouldn’t be so ignorant. You say you feel pain? What if you are a Cylon? Wouldn’t that mess with your theories?”
Gaius felt his hand shake and he put the equipment down on the table. “A Cylon? Don’t be so absurd! Now, you are really being ridiculous. Emotion? Love? Hate? Your whole life? You mean after they pulled you off of the conveyor belt.”
“I had a life once,” she said quietly. I would have been as ignorant as you.” She stood up and walked off to the other side of the room, her eyes locking onto his as he looked up confused.
“Oh really? Did they tell you that? When they pulled you off of the line?” He snorted slightly and shook his head.
“Everything happens for a reason, Gaius, how many times do I have to tell you? I felt love, I felt pain, I feel what you feel.”
“And as I have told you, before, it’s PROGRAMMED! You only feel stuff like that if you are-”
“Human?”
Gaius laughed and shook his head. “We are not having this conversation. It was so peaceful until you came back. Why do you do this to me? I need to get this done!”
Six shook her head and then grabbed Gaius by the arm and turned him around, squeezing until she felt her fingers dig deep into his skin. “Sharon felt love, Sharon felt pain…she thought she was human.”
“Well, yes, that was slightly different, she was a-”
“Sleeper agent? Unaware of what she was until something happened. Emotion is relative, you know, Gaius. One man’s pain is another’s heartache. And we’re very similar.”
Gaius rolled his eyes. “Yes, well, you weren’t a sleeper agent, dear. You’ve always known that you are of metal origins.”
Six slipped to the side and began walking away from him, towards the open hatch, her face cold and dark. “I said that you didn’t know anything about me, Gaius. I came to you for a mission, but I’ve had them before. I was a sleeper agent. I had a life. I had everything.”
Gaius spilled the remaining solution onto the floor and watched her avidly as she disappeared. “No. No, wait.” He sighed and slammed his hand down onto the cold surface. “I’m just tired! I didn’t mean it. Please, come back. A sleeper agent? Please, I want to listen!” He ran his hands through his hair and adjusted his glasses. What if she was telling the truth? What if she had further information to offer? It had never occurred to him before now, that she had been anything more then just a skin job, sent to on a mission to annihilate the human race. What was it that she had done before? Who had she been?
“What the frak are you doing?” Cottle said, looking down at the mess on the floor. “I need you to come with me now. I need your advice on some blood work I just took from the Admiral. He’s just been brought into the sickbay.”
“Is he ok?” Gaius nervously stood from his chair and walked quickly over to where Cottle was stood. The Admiral had to be ok. No way could Tigh ever run the ship without the Admiral, the consequences of that had been seen before, and it was not good.
---
Laura stood in the sickbay with her hand planted firmly over her mouth, trying to control herself as she watched the medics hook Bill up to monitors. She was in shock, she knew it. Never had she seen such a deep and resonating rage before and she would never have expected it from Bill of all people. His eyes had been so unfamiliar and cold, the recognition not there, the warmth that his gaze usually offered gone. She moved her hand slowly and clasped both of her hands together, watching as the people moved around her, not sure what to do or say. She wanted to know why he had been like that and where it was going to lead.
Lee walked passed her quickly, so fast that she nearly didn’t notice him. As he walked towards his father’s bed she grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “No, they’re working on him now. You need to give them their space.”
“What’s wrong with him?” he said, his voice low and almost childlike, his eyes watering and his face revealing his distress.
“I don’t know.” Laura whispered, bringing her hand back up to her mouth as she felt the tears sting at her eyes, the image of his enraged face flashing before her, making her close her eyes.
“Starbuck said that he was like an animal! That he came in and started pounding the prisoner as if he was a Cylon or something? She had never seen anything like it. I don’t understand what’s going on. She said that someone did this to him, like they did to you. I don’t understand!” His arm pulled away from her. “He didn’t tell me! He didn’t! And now this!”
“I know. I suppose he didn’t want to worry you. You’ve just recovered from that ordeal y-”
“Starbuck knew.” He said coldly, glancing at the monitors as they began showing his heart beat on the screen. “She knew, and I didn’t. She is involved and I’m not. How is that fair?”
“You’re his son. He wanted to make it easier on you, at least that’s what I think.”
“Well, you should know, he’s been with you nearly every hour of every day.”
Laura lowered her face and bit her lip, feeling Lee’s bitterness wash over her. She didn’t want to retaliate, knowing that he was in a state and probably didn’t mean anything by it. He was worried about his father.
Cottle walked over and began assessing Bill, looking over his body, looking at the machines and filling out the form he had in his hand. Gaius was watching him nervously, observing from over his shoulder. “His heart beat is steady,” Cottle said, noting it down and then turning the sheet over.
Lee felt his body fill with anger as he watched his Dad lying in the bed. He looked out of the corner of his eye and glared at Laura, his mind telling him it was her fault, but his heart telling him the opposite. He bit his lip, clenching his fists. It was no use, his temper was rising. “This is your fault,” he spat, turning towards her.
“No, it’s not,” she said, her eyes filling with fresh tears. “This was going to happen. It was meant to happen. Lee, I know you want to be mad at someone, but it’s nobody’s fault but the person doing this. Someone is doing this to him.”
Cottle jumped when the machine’s started beeping, Bill’s heart rate skyrocketing as he lay there, he looked up at the arguing couple and then to Bill, his face scrunched. “How odd,” he said, moving around to the monitor. “Will you two stop your bickering, I need quiet.”
Both Laura and Lee looked at the bed and moved forward, watching as Cottle worked on the machine. The silence from both of them seemed to wash over the room and Bill’s heart-rate stabilised.
“If he dies…” Lee shouted, staring at Laura and then to his Dad.
Laura sniffed, turning her face away and wiping her eyes. “This is someone’s fault, Captain Apollo. Someone else needs to be stopped. I did my best to make him stay.”
The machine started beeping loudly again and Cottle stared at them. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
---------
Bill could hear the mumbling of voices around him, his head aching and his blood still pumping in his ears. He felt calm, he felt better. Tiredness was washing over him and he hovered around consciousness, wondering what to do, letting his mind think.
“This is your fault.”
“No, it’s not.” He heard Laura’s voice shake and he could tell that she was beginning to cry. Almost at once he felt his ears ring and the anger begin bubbling in his chest like a volcano. It wasn’t her fault. How could it be? He could hear nothing, just the deep reverberation of voices, words undistinguishable.
His heart slowed and his ears stopped ringing, his mind beginning to calm and the fire which had erupted in his chest died down. All he wanted to do was sleep.
“If he dies…”
“This is someone’s fault, Captain Apollo. Someone else needs to be stopped. I did my best to make him stay.” Bill heard Laura sob and he tried to call out to her, let her know that it was all going to be ok. As if by chance, his ears began ringing again and the burning sensation in his stomach started, his temper rising in his chest. He wanted to scream and yell.
----
Cottle stepped out of the curtain, pulling Gaius with him. “Madam President, this is not going to be good. This is not going to be good for either of you.”