Fic: The Difference between Dream and Reality
Title: The Difference between Dream and Reality
Pairing: Kathryn Janeway/Laura Roslin
Fandom: Star Trek Voyager/Battlestar Galactica
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Laura Roslin thought she had a dream.
Disclaimer: Not mine
Laura Roslin only saw her once, in one of her dreams. The auburn-haired captain of small starship, lost, impossibly far from home, Earth. That small planet that Laura’s entire hope was based on. It existed, the human race was bigger than some 49,000 people. There were billions more, a thriving society, one that had weathered many storms but was yet untarnished by Cylons and had learned to grow above their own mistakes.
At least that was what the woman told her, the captain. That small woman with her proud stance and piercing blue eyes who commanded attention and respect with a simple lift of her chin. Which was how Laura first saw her, wearing a gray long-sleeved t-shirt, dark pants, hands on her hips.
“I’m captain Kathryn Janeway,” the woman said firmly, not wavering when Laura stepped closer, taking in the captain’s face. “Who are you?”
“Laura Roslin, president of the Twelv- - of what is left of the Twelve Colonies. I’ve met all the captains, though I can’t say I recall your face.” Which Laura regretted, for it could only mean that this woman and all of this was only dream.
“What’s left of the Twelve Colonies? What happened?”
“Our own creation, the Cylons, destroyed the Colonies, nuked them. Our fleet is what is left of us.” A pained expression washed over the captain’s face. But the mention of the Cylons didn’t bring any fear into her eyes. Laura couldn’t remember that ever happening before. “You’re not part of the fleet, are you?”
“No. Right now I’m not part of any fleet. My ship is lost. We’re 40,000 light years from home.”
“Where’s home?” As she asked, Laura let her eyes wander across the room. It looks like living quarters perhaps the captain’s, but they’re not on a planet. They’re in space, like Colonial One, but they’re flying at an impossible speed.
“Right now, it’s Voyager and her 150 crewmembers, but most of us come from Earth. Maybe you’ve heard of it. You appear human, though I’ve never heard of the Twelve Colonies.”
“I am human. Earth is just a myth where I come from, the unknown planet that the thirteenth colony left for. But I still have trouble believing in it. If this is the Gods way of convincing me, they’re not doing a very good job. I have never put much faith in my dreams,” Roslin said dryly.
“Whoever said this was a dream?” Janeway almost sounded smug as she looked up at Laura, the smallest of smiles playing on her lips. It’s been a long time since Laura saw a genuine smile and the captain smiling was a sight to behold.
“Then it’s an hallucination caused by the medicine. But this isn’t real.”
“I don’t know what this is, but it’s very real. We have never seen each other before, but the mind can’t make up anything new. So on some level, this is really happening.” Laura looks at Janeway for a few long moments, at the sincerity in her eyes. At the hope that this can be real, knowing it can’t be true, but this woman looks so real. Roslin can smell her light perfume, can see the way the light of the stars illuminates her face.
“Alright, so if this is real, tell me about Earth. Tell me about your home.” Janeway nodded and sat down on the couch, gesturing for Laura to sit down too. After a moment of hesitation, Roslin sat down on the couch too, across from Janeway.
“It took us a lot of centuries and even more wars and mistakes, but it’s beautiful. Not perfect, but it’s home. There are many different climates, so many different forms of nature. We’ve learned to resolve our disagreements without bloodshed. It’s billions of inhabitants coexist without fighting. Starfleet, our fleet’s goal is discovery for the most part, not war.”
“Sounds pretty good,” Laura whispered and closed her eyes, fighting down a wave of nausea as she tried to imagine this world, seeing the trees, hearing the birds, the sun on her face.
“Are you alright?” Janeway’s voice seemed to come from far away. Slowly Laura shook her head without opening her eyes.
“No, I’m dying. Cancer.” The captains stayed silent, so Laura opened her eyes, looking at the woman who seemed more lonely than anyone else she has ever met. It was in her eyes. The burden of responsibility, the loneliness of being at the top of the command chain. Maybe in a few months she would recognize the same thing in her own eyes. If she was still there in that time.
“That still exists? It was eradicated in our society centuries ago. I don’t think our sickbay carries the medicine anymore. I’m sorry.”
“That’s alright. I’ve made my peace with it, I think. I’m going to die.” Laura chuckled. “There’s less than a handful of people who know that and here I’m telling a complete stranger who comes from a planet many of my people don’t even believe exists.”
“Some things are easier to tell to a stranger. Even if you still think this isn’t real,” Janeway’s voice wasn’t accusing, more understanding.
“Would you believe this, in my position?”
“Probably not. Something would have to convince the scientist in me.”
“And what would that have to be?” Janeway shrugged, looking briefly at the stars outside the window and then flicks her gaze back towards Roslin.
“Sometimes a touch,” the captain started and raised her hand, softly touching Laura’s cheek. Laura’s breathed in sharply, but then slowly relaxed and even leaned into Janeway’s touch. “can be enough. But other times I’d need a little more convincing.”
“Like what?” Laura asked, placing her hand over the captain’s, holding it in place. The feeling of another human’s hand against her cheek, the idea that this woman came from a better place, from Earth, comforted her, it almost made her happy.
“You tell me,” Janeway whispered. Without thinking, Laura leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips against the captain’s, a stranger in a dream, a woman she wished could be real. This small woman that bore the weight of the universe on her shoulders. So much like herself. She needed this woman’s strength.
But just for now she settled for her lips, her skin, her warmth, before it would disappear. The small movements Janeway’s lips made against her own, the captain placing Laura’s hand against her chest, so the president could feel the other woman’s heartbeat. She was real.
Opening her eyes, Laura found herself on Colonial One, trembling, nauseated, pain shooting through her body. This was reality. Where humanity was alone, without a home, with the Cylons and with herself leading the remnants of the Twelve Colonies. Back in the hopeless situation. But she smiled. And somewhere she felt hope.