FIC: An Eye for an Eye (1/2)
Summary: Laura’s lie about Hera’s fate finally comes to light.
Rating: T (violent imagery.)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Angst
Word Count: 1,350
Setting: Eye of Jupiter, Rapture
Series: Love in a Time of War: 11
Chapter One:
Bill received a call from Helo, the young officer’s voice oddly harsh, asking to see him in the Agathon’s quarters. Helo’s hard-set expression matched his tone when he opened the hatch for the admiral, but it was Sharon’s tear-stained face that sent Bill’s heart racing.
Helo did the talking. “Boomer says that Hera’s alive.”
“What?” Bill said, uncomprehending.
Sharon gasped out, “She says that the president was hiding my baby at her school on New Caprica.”
Bill grabbed a chair’s back, holding on as though the deck had rolled. He shook his head.
“Yes,” Sharon told him, suddenly strong. “They found her in the rubble with the body of a teacher.” The young woman came close enough to spit. “Did you do this, sir? Did you steal my baby?”
His gaze snapped up. He breathed, “No!”
She collapsed against him. “How? How did they take our baby--we saw a body...” She looked to Helo. “It could be one of Boomer’s lies again.” She wanted to believe so badly, but feared the agony if it were not true.
Helo said, “You told me that the D’Anna said the same thing on New Caprica--“
“Yes,” she said, pained, so unsure of whom to believe, the humans who had betrayed her before, or the Cylons who no longer shared her values. “The Three told me that Hera was alive, but I couldn’t believe it; couldn’t believe you would lie to me.”
“No,” Bill echoed.
More tears flowed down her cheeks. She said, “I didn’t think that the president would lie to you.”
Bill shook his head again, like a great bear being tormented by bees. “Perhaps the Cylons found some way to get the baby off Galactica.” He reached for any possible explanation but the obvious.
Helo said, “Ask the president; we have to know if our daughter is alive.”
“Yes, yes, I will,” Bill said, leaning briefly into Sharon before turning away. “I’ll be back soon.”
~~~*~~~
When the Fleet had fled the orbit of the algae planet with the arrival of the Cylon baseships, Laura had been left homeless on Galactica. After the ships blinked off the DRADIS, Bill had said to her, “I’ll dig up a bed for you somewhere,” carefully not looking at her.
She smiled at his downturned head, noting the flush on his ear’s tip. “Thanks,” she murmured. Just to play the devil, she said, “I think that I left a change of underwear at your quarters; I’ll have to come get them.”
That got his head to snap up. His rough-skinned neck contracted as he gulped. “Sure,” he said. “And use my desk; you’ll need some place to work.”
“Thanks.” This time she nearly purred. Yeah, he was a rock. Rock hard in his resistance to their pull.
His warm gaze glinted at her and he’d taken a step closer, glancing over to make sure that Gaeta was out of earshot. “You could stay at my quarters with your underwear.”
“Oh?” she said, raising an eyebrow and pretending to be very interested in the display panel before her.
“I’d take the couch of course--“
“Of course,” she’d said. “Let’s start with the desk--“ They exchanged little smiles, “And see how it goes.”
She was at his desk when he walked in, intent on studying the Book of Pythia, returning to those old familiar passages-why had she fallen away once she’d returned from New Caprica?
He said her name from the depths of a well, breaking through her thoughts. She blinked at him, surprised at his strange expression--it was fear and she’d never seen that on his face before.
He said, “The Cylon we know as Boomer arrived with the others.” Laura put the text down. “She told our Sharon that her child was alive; she was aboard one of the Cylon baseships.”
There was no accusation in his voice as he said, “And that she’d been seen on New Caprica in your school.” He just wanted her to deny it; that was all.
Laura pulled off her glasses with a shaking hand. The baby lived, floating in her amniotic fluid with Laura, and Hera’s cord wrapping around her chest, tightening until she was breathless with her own dread. She could only glance at Bill again once, and what she saw there had her look away. But she couldn’t help but feel that exaltation. “The child is alive,” she breathed.
He simply stared back. She knew it was over; she might as well confess. “Yes. Yes, the child was at the school; yes, I kept her there, and we suspected that the Cylons captured her during the Exodus from New Caprica.”
Bill’s legs couldn’t hold him up; he collapsed into the chair and stared at the floor, too emotionally exhausted to lift his head. She kept going as though he hadn’t heard. “Yes, it’s true.”
She’d never thought that someone could fall out of love in a moment; when it happened for her, first there were irritations growing, faults compounding, and one day, she just asked the guy to move on. She was watching Bill Adama fall out of love with her like the quick sheering of a glacier calving. “But the thing you have to understand is--“
When he didn’t respond, she stumbled as though turning her ankle, and tried again. “Listen, what you might want to know is that at the time that Hera was born--“
He got up and walked away, unbuttoning his tunic. She stayed rooted to her chair as she heard the taps start in the head. Coming around the desk, she leaned on it, listening intently to the splashing from the head. She quickly put all her roiling thoughts in line; she had to explain; she could stop this from happening if she kept talking, like holding the Quorum’s vote up.
So she did, gripping the head’s doorway for dear life as he lathered his cheeks and began shaving, not replying; not looking at her. She’d witnessed his silent, contained fury at others before, pitied them in their deep freeze, but this was the first time that the anger pointed at her. She didn’t count the moment he’d slammed the brig door on her--that was before. This wasn’t supposed to happen with them now.
She went on and on, racing his shaving, knowing just how long it would take. Then he washed his face off with palms of water, running his hands around back of his neck leaning over the sink--all familiar actions that she was watching for the last time.
Excuses exhausted, she said, “So I decided not to tell you.”
He gave no reply but his controlled breathing. “All right, Bill, I don’t know what you want me to do here. Should I leave?” She motioned towards door. She wanted to run and hide, but there was nowhere to go. Colonial One was out of reach.
“I could use a towel,” he said flatly.
“Okay,” she gingerly made her way into the bathroom--his den--pulled the towel off rack and carefully put it beside him on the counter before darting back to hang onto doorway. He wiped his dripping face.
He finally faced her. “I want to tell them that their child is alive. They think that she’s dead; no one should have to live with that.” He was very methodical, drying every finger. “And I think they’re going to want to get their daughter back.”
“How can they do that?”
He looked into her eyes again, shaking his head, and barely whispered, “I dunno.” With a stronger voice, he said, “I will say this. If it were my child--“ her head dropped, “there would be nothing or anyone that could stop me.”
She wanted to say I love you quickly, before he left her forever, but she knew that it would only come off as her desperate attempt to reverse what had just happened. So she just nodded as he went by her.
End (1/2) Chapter Two >>>
Rating: T (violent imagery.)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Angst
Word Count: 1,350
Setting: Eye of Jupiter, Rapture
Series: Love in a Time of War: 11
Chapter One:
Bill received a call from Helo, the young officer’s voice oddly harsh, asking to see him in the Agathon’s quarters. Helo’s hard-set expression matched his tone when he opened the hatch for the admiral, but it was Sharon’s tear-stained face that sent Bill’s heart racing.
Helo did the talking. “Boomer says that Hera’s alive.”
“What?” Bill said, uncomprehending.
Sharon gasped out, “She says that the president was hiding my baby at her school on New Caprica.”
Bill grabbed a chair’s back, holding on as though the deck had rolled. He shook his head.
“Yes,” Sharon told him, suddenly strong. “They found her in the rubble with the body of a teacher.” The young woman came close enough to spit. “Did you do this, sir? Did you steal my baby?”
His gaze snapped up. He breathed, “No!”
She collapsed against him. “How? How did they take our baby--we saw a body...” She looked to Helo. “It could be one of Boomer’s lies again.” She wanted to believe so badly, but feared the agony if it were not true.
Helo said, “You told me that the D’Anna said the same thing on New Caprica--“
“Yes,” she said, pained, so unsure of whom to believe, the humans who had betrayed her before, or the Cylons who no longer shared her values. “The Three told me that Hera was alive, but I couldn’t believe it; couldn’t believe you would lie to me.”
“No,” Bill echoed.
More tears flowed down her cheeks. She said, “I didn’t think that the president would lie to you.”
Bill shook his head again, like a great bear being tormented by bees. “Perhaps the Cylons found some way to get the baby off Galactica.” He reached for any possible explanation but the obvious.
Helo said, “Ask the president; we have to know if our daughter is alive.”
“Yes, yes, I will,” Bill said, leaning briefly into Sharon before turning away. “I’ll be back soon.”
~~~*~~~
When the Fleet had fled the orbit of the algae planet with the arrival of the Cylon baseships, Laura had been left homeless on Galactica. After the ships blinked off the DRADIS, Bill had said to her, “I’ll dig up a bed for you somewhere,” carefully not looking at her.
She smiled at his downturned head, noting the flush on his ear’s tip. “Thanks,” she murmured. Just to play the devil, she said, “I think that I left a change of underwear at your quarters; I’ll have to come get them.”
That got his head to snap up. His rough-skinned neck contracted as he gulped. “Sure,” he said. “And use my desk; you’ll need some place to work.”
“Thanks.” This time she nearly purred. Yeah, he was a rock. Rock hard in his resistance to their pull.
His warm gaze glinted at her and he’d taken a step closer, glancing over to make sure that Gaeta was out of earshot. “You could stay at my quarters with your underwear.”
“Oh?” she said, raising an eyebrow and pretending to be very interested in the display panel before her.
“I’d take the couch of course--“
“Of course,” she’d said. “Let’s start with the desk--“ They exchanged little smiles, “And see how it goes.”
She was at his desk when he walked in, intent on studying the Book of Pythia, returning to those old familiar passages-why had she fallen away once she’d returned from New Caprica?
He said her name from the depths of a well, breaking through her thoughts. She blinked at him, surprised at his strange expression--it was fear and she’d never seen that on his face before.
He said, “The Cylon we know as Boomer arrived with the others.” Laura put the text down. “She told our Sharon that her child was alive; she was aboard one of the Cylon baseships.”
There was no accusation in his voice as he said, “And that she’d been seen on New Caprica in your school.” He just wanted her to deny it; that was all.
Laura pulled off her glasses with a shaking hand. The baby lived, floating in her amniotic fluid with Laura, and Hera’s cord wrapping around her chest, tightening until she was breathless with her own dread. She could only glance at Bill again once, and what she saw there had her look away. But she couldn’t help but feel that exaltation. “The child is alive,” she breathed.
He simply stared back. She knew it was over; she might as well confess. “Yes. Yes, the child was at the school; yes, I kept her there, and we suspected that the Cylons captured her during the Exodus from New Caprica.”
Bill’s legs couldn’t hold him up; he collapsed into the chair and stared at the floor, too emotionally exhausted to lift his head. She kept going as though he hadn’t heard. “Yes, it’s true.”
She’d never thought that someone could fall out of love in a moment; when it happened for her, first there were irritations growing, faults compounding, and one day, she just asked the guy to move on. She was watching Bill Adama fall out of love with her like the quick sheering of a glacier calving. “But the thing you have to understand is--“
When he didn’t respond, she stumbled as though turning her ankle, and tried again. “Listen, what you might want to know is that at the time that Hera was born--“
He got up and walked away, unbuttoning his tunic. She stayed rooted to her chair as she heard the taps start in the head. Coming around the desk, she leaned on it, listening intently to the splashing from the head. She quickly put all her roiling thoughts in line; she had to explain; she could stop this from happening if she kept talking, like holding the Quorum’s vote up.
So she did, gripping the head’s doorway for dear life as he lathered his cheeks and began shaving, not replying; not looking at her. She’d witnessed his silent, contained fury at others before, pitied them in their deep freeze, but this was the first time that the anger pointed at her. She didn’t count the moment he’d slammed the brig door on her--that was before. This wasn’t supposed to happen with them now.
She went on and on, racing his shaving, knowing just how long it would take. Then he washed his face off with palms of water, running his hands around back of his neck leaning over the sink--all familiar actions that she was watching for the last time.
Excuses exhausted, she said, “So I decided not to tell you.”
He gave no reply but his controlled breathing. “All right, Bill, I don’t know what you want me to do here. Should I leave?” She motioned towards door. She wanted to run and hide, but there was nowhere to go. Colonial One was out of reach.
“I could use a towel,” he said flatly.
“Okay,” she gingerly made her way into the bathroom--his den--pulled the towel off rack and carefully put it beside him on the counter before darting back to hang onto doorway. He wiped his dripping face.
He finally faced her. “I want to tell them that their child is alive. They think that she’s dead; no one should have to live with that.” He was very methodical, drying every finger. “And I think they’re going to want to get their daughter back.”
“How can they do that?”
He looked into her eyes again, shaking his head, and barely whispered, “I dunno.” With a stronger voice, he said, “I will say this. If it were my child--“ her head dropped, “there would be nothing or anyone that could stop me.”
She wanted to say I love you quickly, before he left her forever, but she knew that it would only come off as her desperate attempt to reverse what had just happened. So she just nodded as he went by her.
End (1/2) Chapter Two >>>