Fic: Through the Winter chapter 4 (Cain/Gina)
After crazy picfics and promptathons, we return to:
Title: Through the Winter (4/?)
Author: phoenixstorm
Pairing: Cain/Gina
Rating: G
Word Count: 4,010
Summary: Another 'What if' fic. This time: What if Gina was a sleeper agent cylon?
Author note: Gina makes reference to the goddess Artemis in her journal entry. I assume the mythology is the same as that of the Greeks as I've not heard otherwise. =S If not, please correct me! Anyway, she's talking about the story in which a hunter stumbles across Artemis bathing, and furious at being seen like that she turns him into a stag. He's then killed by his own hunting hounds.
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Chapter Four
All right, I’ll admit it, I have a little too much fun with Helena and her ‘discreet’ rule. She’s just so much fun to try and trip up in public, and I know she doesn’t appreciate it but she can’t hate me for it. What am I even doing, really? Is it a crime to smile at your lover when you’re in the same room together? I even manage to refrain from using her first name around the crew, as I was surprised to discover that there are actually a large number of them who don’t know it.
...
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t entirely professional to hit her in the rear with my clipboard as she walked past earlier today. I didn’t see the pilot coming up behind me, but thankfully I managed to shoo him out of the area before Cain got a good look at him. At times I worry that she’s going to pull an Artemis on me and do something nasty to the poor people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That said, I’m not sure if I would complain if some of her crew had unfortunately nasty things happen to them. For the most part they’re a great bunch, but there are those typical men who are all testosterone and no brains and think that I’m going to fall all over them just because ‘a gal can’t resist a man in uniform’. Thankfully it’s been a while now since anyone decided that I’d appreciate their advances, because as tough as they think they are they’re still scared of their admiral. So maybe not blinded, but at the very least kept in their places. The majority of the people I work with during the day I have no problems with, though, so it’s nice and easy to do my job.
As for the higher ups, Belzen was a great choice on Helena’s part. He reminds me of Simon sometimes, and as I miss my best friend from Scorpia I really appreciate that. He’s got a very strict moral code and is very good at his job, but he actually knows how to stop and enjoy himself from time to time.
Fisk is a hard one to pick. I like him, but at the same time I can never tell when he’s joking and when he’s being serious, and that unnerves me a little. Still, we get along well and I never have problems chatting with him.
There’s only person on the Pegasus that I actually strongly dislike, but as he’s a lieutenant I of course can’t voice those thoughts. His name is Thorne and he has the coldest eyes I’ve ever seen, as if he wouldn’t blink twice if he had to set a room full of children on fire. It sends chills down my spine, and has ever since I first met the man.
Oops, I suppose voicing these thoughts hasn’t exactly been very discreet, either.
Over the next few days Gina worked long hours in front of a computer screen, her hands flying across the keyboard as she entered strings of code that were interrupted frequently by vicious stabs at the ‘Delete’ button when a function was tested and deemed unsatisfactory. She consulted all of her workmates for their own thoughts on the matter, ignoring their jibes as they pointed out that they hadn’t had to modify the system at all, and that their meetings were all already finalised.
She started to dream in code, and twice woke up and tore apart her bedroom in the dark, looking for a notebook in which to scribble down ideas to be implemented in the morning.
It took several weeks and six more meetings before the network was finally up to Cain’s standards, by which point Gina was considering renaming it The Inviere System since she was starting to think that she’d spent more time on the damn thing than Gaius Baltar himself had.
And yet, Gina felt more alive than ever while working with the network. She enjoyed the challenge of ‘communicating’ with it and getting it to run everything exactly the way she wanted it to, and turning what was already a very good network into something that was close to perfection. The code was a work of art in the end, in her opinion, and would lead to a very smoothly operating Battlestar.
It pleased Gina to no ends when she finally presented her masterpiece to Cain and could see that the admiral was very impressed with her work. So impressed, in fact, that Gina got to see her smile again without it being obstructed by her hand.
She felt her chest tighten when Cain congratulated her with that smile (at some stage Gina had stopped thinking of her as simply ‘the admiral’), and Gina realised that with the network finished she’d finally have to start dealing with the other nagging problems that had been shoved to the side for the last couple of weeks.
Unfortunately these problems all revolved around Cain, and the strange things Gina felt with regards to her. She’d never been a bad worker, but she’d been strangely driven beyond normal to get this system working to its absolute best. Even her boss, after his insistence that everyone work at 110%, had had to force Gina to leave the office in the evenings. Following their second meeting when she’d spotted the poorly contained smile, Gina had found, even though she’d mostly tried to ignore it, that Cain had stopped being a bit of a game to her and had somehow developed into something...it was hard to describe, but something more.
It was the small things. The way Cain would flex her fingers while she was thinking, the way she’d always stand so straight as if she owned every inch of the room and every atom of oxygen within it. There was something so curiously fascinating about everything she did. Mostly it came from when Gina discovered that although Cain’s actual expression didn’t change much, her eyes were actually very expressive if one learned to watch them just right. It was difficult to see properly at a distance, but she would have sworn that they’d soften slightly when Cain first appeared from around the corner in the mornings.
Throughout the meetings on the other hand when they were standing only feet apart from each other she could see them definitely softening at points. It always made her pause mid-sentence and just smile back before she regained composure and could continue speaking. But however wonderful her eyes could be, it was nothing compared to the brilliance of an actual smile.
It was then in their most recent meeting that Gina finally started to develop an inkling of what was happening to her. She didn’t get the time to explore the thought further though as Cain continued speaking.
“In that case, I’d like to get you onboard the Pegasus to get familiar with the systems before we go in for the full retrofit. We’re currently stationed here for a training program which I’ve extended by a couple of months, after which we’ll go into the three month overhaul that the other Battlestars will be starting shortly. The training will extend your contract with us of course, but I find it’s necessary due to the poor results I’ve been getting from my crew as of late.” Cain looked off to the side, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. Gina opened her mouth to comment on this, but Cain continued speaking.
“I trust this will be all right with you.”
At this point Gina felt as if she’d agree to just about anything Cain said to her. She nodded, replying “of course” and following it up with a warm smile. Cain nodded.
“I’ll be departing for the Pegasus again at 1300 tomorrow, after I’ve finished selecting the remainder of my new recruits. There’s an area for lunch breaks near the docking bay; you can await the Raptors there.”
Having gotten to know Cain fairly well during the last few weeks, Gina had become able to recognise the conclusive tone that Cain used when she wanted to finish a meeting. She started packing up her paperwork and discs, but paused when she felt a hand resting on her arm.
“Thank you, Ms Inviere. You’ve proven to be very capable and reliable, and I feel less concerned knowing that the Pegasus is going to be in your hands.”
“Don’t mention it, Admiral. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity.” Gina replied in all honesty, and gave Cain’s hand resting on her arm a light pat. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
---
It was a very empty office that Gina returned to that afternoon. The rest of the building was full of activity as always, but she was the last in her department to be still stuck on solid ground. Everyone else was already well into their retrofits, but thankfully Steiner at least understood that things can’t be rushed with Admiral Cain.
“Hi Andrea, how’re you?” She asked as she walked past the front desk, and the secretary jumped as she quickly minimised the screen of the online game she was playing.
“F-fine thanks.” Andrea replied a little quickly, and blushed furiously when Gina called back “Did you spot the Fire of Hephaestus spell card hidden in one of the clay pots at the bottom of that temple?”
She visited Steiner’s office to let him know that she would be leaving as of tomorrow morning, and he gave her the rest of the day off to make sure that she was fully packed and prepared for her relocation to the Battlestar. He interrupted her during her goodbyes to concentrate on his computer for a moment, and then turned back to her with an innocent smile as Andrea’s voice shrieked out from the next room “HOW DOES THIS MOTHERFRAKKER KEEP KILLING ME?”
“There’s not much to do until you lot get back from your current jobs.” He replied to her raised eyebrow, and she couldn’t help but smile as she shook her head.
“I’m going to tell her it’s you.” She threatened as she turned to leave the office, but decided against it when she saw Andrea beating her head on the counter outside. A little torture was fun every once in a while, and she supposed that being boss came with some privileges.
She arrived home with a couple of hours of sunlight remaining, and pulled out her bags to start packing. It surprised her how little there was to take, really, considering she was going to be on the Pegasus for almost half a year. It mostly came down to clothing, a few books and then her work materials. She doubted she’d have much room for most of her possessions, though she did decide in the end to take the photograph of her with her parents and the birthday cake.
With that out of the way she made a large dinner to try and use up the rest of her food, and once that was finished and the dishes were washed she found herself with nothing to do. Her apartment was already too tidy to go around and clean, so she settled back on the couch with a magazine instead.
Normally she went for computing magazines, but she’d grabbed a very girly one by mistake when confronted once again by Mrs Tucker at the shops. After realising her mistake at the checkout she hadn’t wanted to risk going back to grab the one she’d actually wanted, which led to her now discovering that Brad Free and Lesley McFarlane were considering splitting up.
She skipped through the rest of the celebrity gossip, paused to read through the fashion pages, and finally found herself at the Love Column section towards the back of the magazine. One was from a woman who suspected her boyfriend was cheating on her, another from a woman who simply wanted the columnist to tell her that her fiancé was The One.
Gina rested the magazine across her chest and lay back onto her cushion, wondering what her ‘love life’ letter would sound like if she were ever bored enough to write in.
Dear Vicki,
I want to talk to you about my current client. She’s scary, strict, demanding, a perfectionist...
Gina snorted in amusement. That list could go on for a while. She decided that she might as well head off to bed, and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair.
and yet, there’s something sweet and almost kind about her. She keeps it well hidden, but there is this slightly cute and cheeky nature to her and I find myself constantly thinking about how I can bring it out. I get strangely warm all over when I do see pieces of it,
Gina placed a hand on her chest as she settled down into bed,
and it gets a little difficult to breathe.
I guess my question is: am I developing feelings for her?
~ G. Inviere
With a sigh, Gina rolled over and hugged one of her pillows. The whole Love Column thing was a stupid idea, she mentally grumbled, as it was obvious that the people writing in deep down already knew their answers. Yes, the woman’s boyfriend was cheating on her. No, the fiancé was not the one.
Yes, she was developing feelings for Admiral Cain.
---
The alarm woke her up early the next morning, but Gina sleepily turned it off and rolled back over, determined to enjoy what would most likely be her last morning to sleep in for a long time. She dozed off for another couple of hours, and when she woke up again it was just past 10 o’clock. She took her time in having breakfast and getting ready, and went through her bags once again to make sure she definitely had everything she’d require. Before locking up she pulled on her brand new Integral Systems Engineering coat, which Steiner had provided to all his employees since he realised how much the military appreciated uniforms. She concluded that it was a nice one as she admired it in the full length mirror on the back of her door, one that managed to look somewhat classy while still maintaining professionalism. So this was it. This was what Gina Inviere was going to be for the next five or six months. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror which spread into a bigger grin as the excitement started to sink in.
“I have a good feeling about this.” She told her reflection, and then blew her a kiss before picking up her bags and locking up her home.
She gave a large tip to the cabbie when he dropped her off at the military hanger, and although he was obviously confused he didn’t question the generosity.
The woman, Ruth, was at the front counter as Gina dragged her bags in, and she threw up a casual salute to Gina who returned the gesture. They’d gotten to talking a couple of times when Gina had been early for her meetings, and the network administrator hadn’t been able to resist making up stories about how brutal Cain had been to her. She decided that the admiral would actually probably appreciate the tales, and put on her best ‘it’s tough but I’ll get through it’ expression when Ruth smiled sympathetically and wished her luck. The funny thing about the whole situation was that Gina still couldn’t work out how in the name of the gods no one else seemed to have figured out that Cain wasn’t nearly as terrifying as she pretended to be. She’d seen the slip ups in their very first meeting for gods’ sakes! Perhaps military folk were a little denser than the average person.
Out of habit she almost walked right past the area she was supposed to wait in to head to Cain’s temporary office, but managed to remember with just enough time to save herself the embarrassment of having to do a 180 and head back. The tables were filled with other officers on their lunch breaks, and several people who looked about as nervous and excited as she felt, whom she guessed were the new recruits Cain had mentioned yesterday.
There was one seat left next to a balding man in dress uniform, and she dropped her bags to the side before taking it. He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye and let out a little snort when he spotted the company patch on her arm, but she ignored this and smiled at him.
“Hi, I’m Gina Inviere. Are you waiting for the Pegasus pickup at 1 o’clock?”
“Lieutenant Thorne of the Battlestar Pegasus.” He told her as an answer, and turned to look at her properly. When he did his eyebrows rose slightly and he gave her the once over with his eyes. Although Cain had done much the same thing when they’d first met, the way Thorne looked at her sent chills down her spine. It was like he was a wolf eyeing off a piece of meat, and she suddenly felt very exposed.
“I’m going to be supervising the retrofit on the Pegasus,” she said casually, forcing herself to meet his eyes, “so thanks in advance for putting up with me.”
“My pleasure.”
There was a call to attention and he quickly pulled himself out of his seat, allowing Gina to release the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and contemplate just kissing Cain for her wonderful timing now that was a thought.
Gina quickly stood as well when she realised that she was the only person still sitting, and Cain paused while walking past her, an unreadable look in her eyes. Gina opened her mouth to say hello, but the admiral’s pause was only temporary and she continued to walk to the front of the tent.
“It is customary to congratulate the new recruits when they are finally deemed ready for an actual role onboard a Battlestar.” She spoke as if to everyone in the tent rather than just the new recruits, but Gina discovered as she glanced around the tent that everyone was listening as if she really were talking to them all.
Cain continued. “They say ‘congratulations’ as if you’ve actually achieved something. I, however, will not be offering any form of warm wishes, encouraging words or pats on the back today, because in reality you have achieved nothing. It is today and only today in which you start working towards your goals for real. Your time here has been nothing more than a relaxation period, and I do not want anyone believing anything otherwise. Make no mistake, you are here to work, and you will work hard. When you have actually proven to me that you’re competent, then you may receive some form of congratulations. Try not to hold your breath, though.”
Gina’s mouth, like many of those of the new recruits, was hanging open by the time Cain had finished speaking. Okay, so maybe the admiral was better with her tough act than Gina had originally given her credit for. No wonder Ruth had believed all of her stories.
After a dismissal everyone who would be flying to the Pegasus picked up their bags and started filing into the waiting Raptors, but as Gina started to follow she was pulled aside by Cain.
“You’ll be flying with me.” Cain told her, her voice almost implying that Gina was in trouble. When Thorne boarded the same Raptor with her and the admiral, she suspected that she might be.
With the three of them boarded and the two pilots already waiting in their seats, the Raptor took off. Gina hadn’t been into space since she’d arrived on Scorpia about nineteen months ago, so she found herself craning to see past the pilots and outside. Thorne, who was sitting next to her, thought that she was looking at him and turned to face her, so she quickly turned her head away from the front and looked instead over at Cain sitting opposite her. She tried smiling at the woman, and was delighted when Cain returned it. With Thorne having directed his attention towards the front of the Raptor, Gina decided to take the unnecessarily childish approach and mouthed ‘hey, how are you?’
Cain nodded in reply. She was fine.
‘Can we talk later?’ Gina mouthed again as she mimed actions to the last three words, and Cain nodded once more while looking slightly amused by Gina’s silly hand gestures. They didn’t communicate again after that, and Gina sat back in the chair with her eyes closed to enjoy the flight.
Chatter among the pilots caught her attention a little later, and she didn’t need to crane to see the enormous Battlestar right in front of them. Enormous letters ran across the side of the ship as if to remind her that she really had ended up with such a prestigious ship, as she had started to doubt that her luck could really be that good.
Not ‘luck’, she reminded herself, you only got this opportunity because someone murdered Thomas.
As bad as it made her feel she kept forgetting that fact, and it was forgotten once again when the Raptor landed and the hatch opened to a hanger full of personnel. They snapped into a salute when Cain stepped out, and Gina realised that they probably wouldn’t have seen much of their admiral in the past few weeks.
She let Thorne and the pilots follow next, and tried her best to slip out unnoticed, worrying that people would start to question why an unknown woman was allowed the privilege of travelling with their commanding officer.
Cain greeted her crew and dismissed them quickly, and then spoke for a while with a dark haired man who had been the first to welcome her aboard. The rest of the crew ignored Gina as they returned to their work, and so she stood awkwardly next to the Pegasus, wondering whether it would impolite to wander off and at the same time worrying that it was too forward of her to stay.
The man seemed to only just notice Gina, and he said something to Cain who turned and beckoned for her to come over. She picked up her bags and walked over, her heels sounding very out of place on top of the other noises in the hanger.
“This is Gina Inviere who will be in charge of the retrofit.” Cain introduced her to the man, and then turned to Gina. “Ms. Inviere, this is my XO, Colonel Belzen.”
She took his offered hand and smiled, echoing his polite greeting. Cain nodded at him and he excused himself, leaving the two women alone.
“You wanted to speak with me?” Cain asked, and Gina realised that she hadn’t actually thought this far ahead. She grabbed the first thing she could think of.
“I just wanted to thank you for this opportunity.”
“It’s a job, not an opportunity.” Cain replied, and Gina mentally winced as she realised that Cain’s speech back on Scorpia could easily be applied to her situation as well. She hadn’t thought that one out well.
Gina braced herself for the lecture that she was sure would follow, but Cain surprised her by asking “would you join me for dinner tonight?”
“Of course” she replied a little too quickly, and Cain nodded at her with a smile after which she turned to walk away, leaving Gina standing by herself in the middle of the hanger. She bit her lip as she took a moment to compose herself, ignoring for the moment that she’d not actually asked what time dinner was, or where Cain expected to have it, and then went to grab the first person she could find to give her directions to her new home.
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Author note: I love writing Cain lectures, I really do. ♥
Chapter Five
Title: Through the Winter (4/?)
Author: phoenixstorm
Pairing: Cain/Gina
Rating: G
Word Count: 4,010
Summary: Another 'What if' fic. This time: What if Gina was a sleeper agent cylon?
Author note: Gina makes reference to the goddess Artemis in her journal entry. I assume the mythology is the same as that of the Greeks as I've not heard otherwise. =S If not, please correct me! Anyway, she's talking about the story in which a hunter stumbles across Artemis bathing, and furious at being seen like that she turns him into a stag. He's then killed by his own hunting hounds.
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Chapter Four
All right, I’ll admit it, I have a little too much fun with Helena and her ‘discreet’ rule. She’s just so much fun to try and trip up in public, and I know she doesn’t appreciate it but she can’t hate me for it. What am I even doing, really? Is it a crime to smile at your lover when you’re in the same room together? I even manage to refrain from using her first name around the crew, as I was surprised to discover that there are actually a large number of them who don’t know it.
...
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t entirely professional to hit her in the rear with my clipboard as she walked past earlier today. I didn’t see the pilot coming up behind me, but thankfully I managed to shoo him out of the area before Cain got a good look at him. At times I worry that she’s going to pull an Artemis on me and do something nasty to the poor people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That said, I’m not sure if I would complain if some of her crew had unfortunately nasty things happen to them. For the most part they’re a great bunch, but there are those typical men who are all testosterone and no brains and think that I’m going to fall all over them just because ‘a gal can’t resist a man in uniform’. Thankfully it’s been a while now since anyone decided that I’d appreciate their advances, because as tough as they think they are they’re still scared of their admiral. So maybe not blinded, but at the very least kept in their places. The majority of the people I work with during the day I have no problems with, though, so it’s nice and easy to do my job.
As for the higher ups, Belzen was a great choice on Helena’s part. He reminds me of Simon sometimes, and as I miss my best friend from Scorpia I really appreciate that. He’s got a very strict moral code and is very good at his job, but he actually knows how to stop and enjoy himself from time to time.
Fisk is a hard one to pick. I like him, but at the same time I can never tell when he’s joking and when he’s being serious, and that unnerves me a little. Still, we get along well and I never have problems chatting with him.
There’s only person on the Pegasus that I actually strongly dislike, but as he’s a lieutenant I of course can’t voice those thoughts. His name is Thorne and he has the coldest eyes I’ve ever seen, as if he wouldn’t blink twice if he had to set a room full of children on fire. It sends chills down my spine, and has ever since I first met the man.
Oops, I suppose voicing these thoughts hasn’t exactly been very discreet, either.
Over the next few days Gina worked long hours in front of a computer screen, her hands flying across the keyboard as she entered strings of code that were interrupted frequently by vicious stabs at the ‘Delete’ button when a function was tested and deemed unsatisfactory. She consulted all of her workmates for their own thoughts on the matter, ignoring their jibes as they pointed out that they hadn’t had to modify the system at all, and that their meetings were all already finalised.
She started to dream in code, and twice woke up and tore apart her bedroom in the dark, looking for a notebook in which to scribble down ideas to be implemented in the morning.
It took several weeks and six more meetings before the network was finally up to Cain’s standards, by which point Gina was considering renaming it The Inviere System since she was starting to think that she’d spent more time on the damn thing than Gaius Baltar himself had.
And yet, Gina felt more alive than ever while working with the network. She enjoyed the challenge of ‘communicating’ with it and getting it to run everything exactly the way she wanted it to, and turning what was already a very good network into something that was close to perfection. The code was a work of art in the end, in her opinion, and would lead to a very smoothly operating Battlestar.
It pleased Gina to no ends when she finally presented her masterpiece to Cain and could see that the admiral was very impressed with her work. So impressed, in fact, that Gina got to see her smile again without it being obstructed by her hand.
She felt her chest tighten when Cain congratulated her with that smile (at some stage Gina had stopped thinking of her as simply ‘the admiral’), and Gina realised that with the network finished she’d finally have to start dealing with the other nagging problems that had been shoved to the side for the last couple of weeks.
Unfortunately these problems all revolved around Cain, and the strange things Gina felt with regards to her. She’d never been a bad worker, but she’d been strangely driven beyond normal to get this system working to its absolute best. Even her boss, after his insistence that everyone work at 110%, had had to force Gina to leave the office in the evenings. Following their second meeting when she’d spotted the poorly contained smile, Gina had found, even though she’d mostly tried to ignore it, that Cain had stopped being a bit of a game to her and had somehow developed into something...it was hard to describe, but something more.
It was the small things. The way Cain would flex her fingers while she was thinking, the way she’d always stand so straight as if she owned every inch of the room and every atom of oxygen within it. There was something so curiously fascinating about everything she did. Mostly it came from when Gina discovered that although Cain’s actual expression didn’t change much, her eyes were actually very expressive if one learned to watch them just right. It was difficult to see properly at a distance, but she would have sworn that they’d soften slightly when Cain first appeared from around the corner in the mornings.
Throughout the meetings on the other hand when they were standing only feet apart from each other she could see them definitely softening at points. It always made her pause mid-sentence and just smile back before she regained composure and could continue speaking. But however wonderful her eyes could be, it was nothing compared to the brilliance of an actual smile.
It was then in their most recent meeting that Gina finally started to develop an inkling of what was happening to her. She didn’t get the time to explore the thought further though as Cain continued speaking.
“In that case, I’d like to get you onboard the Pegasus to get familiar with the systems before we go in for the full retrofit. We’re currently stationed here for a training program which I’ve extended by a couple of months, after which we’ll go into the three month overhaul that the other Battlestars will be starting shortly. The training will extend your contract with us of course, but I find it’s necessary due to the poor results I’ve been getting from my crew as of late.” Cain looked off to the side, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. Gina opened her mouth to comment on this, but Cain continued speaking.
“I trust this will be all right with you.”
At this point Gina felt as if she’d agree to just about anything Cain said to her. She nodded, replying “of course” and following it up with a warm smile. Cain nodded.
“I’ll be departing for the Pegasus again at 1300 tomorrow, after I’ve finished selecting the remainder of my new recruits. There’s an area for lunch breaks near the docking bay; you can await the Raptors there.”
Having gotten to know Cain fairly well during the last few weeks, Gina had become able to recognise the conclusive tone that Cain used when she wanted to finish a meeting. She started packing up her paperwork and discs, but paused when she felt a hand resting on her arm.
“Thank you, Ms Inviere. You’ve proven to be very capable and reliable, and I feel less concerned knowing that the Pegasus is going to be in your hands.”
“Don’t mention it, Admiral. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this opportunity.” Gina replied in all honesty, and gave Cain’s hand resting on her arm a light pat. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
---
It was a very empty office that Gina returned to that afternoon. The rest of the building was full of activity as always, but she was the last in her department to be still stuck on solid ground. Everyone else was already well into their retrofits, but thankfully Steiner at least understood that things can’t be rushed with Admiral Cain.
“Hi Andrea, how’re you?” She asked as she walked past the front desk, and the secretary jumped as she quickly minimised the screen of the online game she was playing.
“F-fine thanks.” Andrea replied a little quickly, and blushed furiously when Gina called back “Did you spot the Fire of Hephaestus spell card hidden in one of the clay pots at the bottom of that temple?”
She visited Steiner’s office to let him know that she would be leaving as of tomorrow morning, and he gave her the rest of the day off to make sure that she was fully packed and prepared for her relocation to the Battlestar. He interrupted her during her goodbyes to concentrate on his computer for a moment, and then turned back to her with an innocent smile as Andrea’s voice shrieked out from the next room “HOW DOES THIS MOTHERFRAKKER KEEP KILLING ME?”
“There’s not much to do until you lot get back from your current jobs.” He replied to her raised eyebrow, and she couldn’t help but smile as she shook her head.
“I’m going to tell her it’s you.” She threatened as she turned to leave the office, but decided against it when she saw Andrea beating her head on the counter outside. A little torture was fun every once in a while, and she supposed that being boss came with some privileges.
She arrived home with a couple of hours of sunlight remaining, and pulled out her bags to start packing. It surprised her how little there was to take, really, considering she was going to be on the Pegasus for almost half a year. It mostly came down to clothing, a few books and then her work materials. She doubted she’d have much room for most of her possessions, though she did decide in the end to take the photograph of her with her parents and the birthday cake.
With that out of the way she made a large dinner to try and use up the rest of her food, and once that was finished and the dishes were washed she found herself with nothing to do. Her apartment was already too tidy to go around and clean, so she settled back on the couch with a magazine instead.
Normally she went for computing magazines, but she’d grabbed a very girly one by mistake when confronted once again by Mrs Tucker at the shops. After realising her mistake at the checkout she hadn’t wanted to risk going back to grab the one she’d actually wanted, which led to her now discovering that Brad Free and Lesley McFarlane were considering splitting up.
She skipped through the rest of the celebrity gossip, paused to read through the fashion pages, and finally found herself at the Love Column section towards the back of the magazine. One was from a woman who suspected her boyfriend was cheating on her, another from a woman who simply wanted the columnist to tell her that her fiancé was The One.
Gina rested the magazine across her chest and lay back onto her cushion, wondering what her ‘love life’ letter would sound like if she were ever bored enough to write in.
Dear Vicki,
I want to talk to you about my current client. She’s scary, strict, demanding, a perfectionist...
Gina snorted in amusement. That list could go on for a while. She decided that she might as well head off to bed, and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair.
and yet, there’s something sweet and almost kind about her. She keeps it well hidden, but there is this slightly cute and cheeky nature to her and I find myself constantly thinking about how I can bring it out. I get strangely warm all over when I do see pieces of it,
Gina placed a hand on her chest as she settled down into bed,
and it gets a little difficult to breathe.
I guess my question is: am I developing feelings for her?
~ G. Inviere
With a sigh, Gina rolled over and hugged one of her pillows. The whole Love Column thing was a stupid idea, she mentally grumbled, as it was obvious that the people writing in deep down already knew their answers. Yes, the woman’s boyfriend was cheating on her. No, the fiancé was not the one.
Yes, she was developing feelings for Admiral Cain.
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The alarm woke her up early the next morning, but Gina sleepily turned it off and rolled back over, determined to enjoy what would most likely be her last morning to sleep in for a long time. She dozed off for another couple of hours, and when she woke up again it was just past 10 o’clock. She took her time in having breakfast and getting ready, and went through her bags once again to make sure she definitely had everything she’d require. Before locking up she pulled on her brand new Integral Systems Engineering coat, which Steiner had provided to all his employees since he realised how much the military appreciated uniforms. She concluded that it was a nice one as she admired it in the full length mirror on the back of her door, one that managed to look somewhat classy while still maintaining professionalism. So this was it. This was what Gina Inviere was going to be for the next five or six months. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror which spread into a bigger grin as the excitement started to sink in.
“I have a good feeling about this.” She told her reflection, and then blew her a kiss before picking up her bags and locking up her home.
She gave a large tip to the cabbie when he dropped her off at the military hanger, and although he was obviously confused he didn’t question the generosity.
The woman, Ruth, was at the front counter as Gina dragged her bags in, and she threw up a casual salute to Gina who returned the gesture. They’d gotten to talking a couple of times when Gina had been early for her meetings, and the network administrator hadn’t been able to resist making up stories about how brutal Cain had been to her. She decided that the admiral would actually probably appreciate the tales, and put on her best ‘it’s tough but I’ll get through it’ expression when Ruth smiled sympathetically and wished her luck. The funny thing about the whole situation was that Gina still couldn’t work out how in the name of the gods no one else seemed to have figured out that Cain wasn’t nearly as terrifying as she pretended to be. She’d seen the slip ups in their very first meeting for gods’ sakes! Perhaps military folk were a little denser than the average person.
Out of habit she almost walked right past the area she was supposed to wait in to head to Cain’s temporary office, but managed to remember with just enough time to save herself the embarrassment of having to do a 180 and head back. The tables were filled with other officers on their lunch breaks, and several people who looked about as nervous and excited as she felt, whom she guessed were the new recruits Cain had mentioned yesterday.
There was one seat left next to a balding man in dress uniform, and she dropped her bags to the side before taking it. He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye and let out a little snort when he spotted the company patch on her arm, but she ignored this and smiled at him.
“Hi, I’m Gina Inviere. Are you waiting for the Pegasus pickup at 1 o’clock?”
“Lieutenant Thorne of the Battlestar Pegasus.” He told her as an answer, and turned to look at her properly. When he did his eyebrows rose slightly and he gave her the once over with his eyes. Although Cain had done much the same thing when they’d first met, the way Thorne looked at her sent chills down her spine. It was like he was a wolf eyeing off a piece of meat, and she suddenly felt very exposed.
“I’m going to be supervising the retrofit on the Pegasus,” she said casually, forcing herself to meet his eyes, “so thanks in advance for putting up with me.”
“My pleasure.”
There was a call to attention and he quickly pulled himself out of his seat, allowing Gina to release the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and contemplate just kissing Cain for her wonderful timing now that was a thought.
Gina quickly stood as well when she realised that she was the only person still sitting, and Cain paused while walking past her, an unreadable look in her eyes. Gina opened her mouth to say hello, but the admiral’s pause was only temporary and she continued to walk to the front of the tent.
“It is customary to congratulate the new recruits when they are finally deemed ready for an actual role onboard a Battlestar.” She spoke as if to everyone in the tent rather than just the new recruits, but Gina discovered as she glanced around the tent that everyone was listening as if she really were talking to them all.
Cain continued. “They say ‘congratulations’ as if you’ve actually achieved something. I, however, will not be offering any form of warm wishes, encouraging words or pats on the back today, because in reality you have achieved nothing. It is today and only today in which you start working towards your goals for real. Your time here has been nothing more than a relaxation period, and I do not want anyone believing anything otherwise. Make no mistake, you are here to work, and you will work hard. When you have actually proven to me that you’re competent, then you may receive some form of congratulations. Try not to hold your breath, though.”
Gina’s mouth, like many of those of the new recruits, was hanging open by the time Cain had finished speaking. Okay, so maybe the admiral was better with her tough act than Gina had originally given her credit for. No wonder Ruth had believed all of her stories.
After a dismissal everyone who would be flying to the Pegasus picked up their bags and started filing into the waiting Raptors, but as Gina started to follow she was pulled aside by Cain.
“You’ll be flying with me.” Cain told her, her voice almost implying that Gina was in trouble. When Thorne boarded the same Raptor with her and the admiral, she suspected that she might be.
With the three of them boarded and the two pilots already waiting in their seats, the Raptor took off. Gina hadn’t been into space since she’d arrived on Scorpia about nineteen months ago, so she found herself craning to see past the pilots and outside. Thorne, who was sitting next to her, thought that she was looking at him and turned to face her, so she quickly turned her head away from the front and looked instead over at Cain sitting opposite her. She tried smiling at the woman, and was delighted when Cain returned it. With Thorne having directed his attention towards the front of the Raptor, Gina decided to take the unnecessarily childish approach and mouthed ‘hey, how are you?’
Cain nodded in reply. She was fine.
‘Can we talk later?’ Gina mouthed again as she mimed actions to the last three words, and Cain nodded once more while looking slightly amused by Gina’s silly hand gestures. They didn’t communicate again after that, and Gina sat back in the chair with her eyes closed to enjoy the flight.
Chatter among the pilots caught her attention a little later, and she didn’t need to crane to see the enormous Battlestar right in front of them. Enormous letters ran across the side of the ship as if to remind her that she really had ended up with such a prestigious ship, as she had started to doubt that her luck could really be that good.
Not ‘luck’, she reminded herself, you only got this opportunity because someone murdered Thomas.
As bad as it made her feel she kept forgetting that fact, and it was forgotten once again when the Raptor landed and the hatch opened to a hanger full of personnel. They snapped into a salute when Cain stepped out, and Gina realised that they probably wouldn’t have seen much of their admiral in the past few weeks.
She let Thorne and the pilots follow next, and tried her best to slip out unnoticed, worrying that people would start to question why an unknown woman was allowed the privilege of travelling with their commanding officer.
Cain greeted her crew and dismissed them quickly, and then spoke for a while with a dark haired man who had been the first to welcome her aboard. The rest of the crew ignored Gina as they returned to their work, and so she stood awkwardly next to the Pegasus, wondering whether it would impolite to wander off and at the same time worrying that it was too forward of her to stay.
The man seemed to only just notice Gina, and he said something to Cain who turned and beckoned for her to come over. She picked up her bags and walked over, her heels sounding very out of place on top of the other noises in the hanger.
“This is Gina Inviere who will be in charge of the retrofit.” Cain introduced her to the man, and then turned to Gina. “Ms. Inviere, this is my XO, Colonel Belzen.”
She took his offered hand and smiled, echoing his polite greeting. Cain nodded at him and he excused himself, leaving the two women alone.
“You wanted to speak with me?” Cain asked, and Gina realised that she hadn’t actually thought this far ahead. She grabbed the first thing she could think of.
“I just wanted to thank you for this opportunity.”
“It’s a job, not an opportunity.” Cain replied, and Gina mentally winced as she realised that Cain’s speech back on Scorpia could easily be applied to her situation as well. She hadn’t thought that one out well.
Gina braced herself for the lecture that she was sure would follow, but Cain surprised her by asking “would you join me for dinner tonight?”
“Of course” she replied a little too quickly, and Cain nodded at her with a smile after which she turned to walk away, leaving Gina standing by herself in the middle of the hanger. She bit her lip as she took a moment to compose herself, ignoring for the moment that she’d not actually asked what time dinner was, or where Cain expected to have it, and then went to grab the first person she could find to give her directions to her new home.
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Author note: I love writing Cain lectures, I really do. ♥
Chapter Five