Fic: Midnight Passing
Title: Midnight Passing
Author: Major Fischer
Rating: Mature, no explicit sex or violence.
Universe: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Kendra Shaw/Tory Foster pre-Laura Roslin/Tory Foster (but very pre)
Summary: Kendra Shaw and Tory Foster meet up again for the first time since the world ended, but their burdens have changed them into women each would not recognize. Spoilers for Razor and the Hera storyline from Downloaded.
Author's Note: Written for runawaynun and projectjulie. A sequal to Ships at Twilight NC-17
Tory hated going over to the Pegasus.
Not that she did it often, and almost never by herself. Galactica wasn’t home, but it was rather like that gritty but really safe part of town where you knew that if someone tried to mug you everyone would come out into the street and beat the frak out of the offender. It was strange that she was starting to think of the fleet as a city, rather like Delphi, with each ship a distinct neighborhood. There were industrial ships and luxurious ships and conservative ships and ships where you could get just about anything you wanted.
Not everyone was happy to see someone from Colonial One come to visit their home, with our without the president, but Pegasus sent a shiver down Tory’s spine. Like just about everyone she encountered looked down on her as if she was some lesser form of life. A civilian. Someone to either be dismissed or to be used.
She supposed that was Cain’s legacy. Something made her rather doubt Lee Adama could do much about that.
She’d only been working for the president for a few weeks, and truthfully she wasn’t all that sure what to make of the woman yet. She knew who Laura Roslin was before the end of the world, in political circles she was rather hard to miss, even with her junior cabinet post. Her last boss, the mayor of Delphi had a few run-ins with her, much to his regret, over standardized testing. Education reform was a key part of the Federalist platform and one of their major targets had been the Caprica Teachers Union. And really, no friend of Adar’s was a friend of the mayor’s.
Tory was on an inter-colonial shuttle when the world ended, and one of the ships they’d had to abandon relatively early after their escape from the colonies. As a consequence she’d ended up bouncing from scummy ship to scummy ship since. The captains of the Cloud 9 and Rising Star weren’t all that interested in taking on too many refugees, and it wasn’t like she had a lot of marketable skills in this new world. At least until recently.
She’d been working pay roll on the refining ship-through exactly what money was worth in their situation was rather debatable-when she’d gotten the call from Colonial One.
It’s not that she wished Billy ill. She’d never met him, and from what she’d heard, he was a good man. There weren’t many of those left. But in truth she wasn’t sure if what they needed right now was good men. Good men weren’t going to keep the human race going.
Still, it’s not that she wished Billy ill, but the chance to be the president’s personal aide/chief of staff/head cook and bottle washer was too good to turn down. Even if the president was Laura Roslin. Even if the world of the presidency had shrunk to a heavy transport and however far she could make her authority reach.
Which Tory supposed is why she hated going to Pegasus, and why she hated the look in the mighty Battlestar crew’s eyes. These people weren’t human anymore, and Tory wasn’t sure yet if she felt pity or disgust for them because of it. She never had thought much about being human before the end of the world, but it seemed to her that was the one thing they couldn’t afford to loose entirely.
It didn’t surprise Tory that she was brooding about human frailties today. Human frailties were entirely why she was on Pegasus today. Hers were prologue, and hardly relevant, but they were going to color the conversation anyway.
She stopped at the door to a gym, the place was polished and clean, and didn’t smell anything like sweet and age the way Galactica’s did. Just was starting to think age was a lot of Galactica charm. She thought she might be finding a new appreciation for many things with a bit of age on them. The only occupant was a compact woman attacking a punching bag with a ferocity that in another life might have made Tory ask if the bag had kicked her dog or run over her cat.
But this wasn’t a woman for light teasing now. Which was sad. The teasing had been the best part of their relationship. “Do you always ignore messages from the President’s office, or did you not bother to see my name at the bottom?”
Her voice cut through the room enough that Major Kendra Shaw looked up surprised. In an instant of eye contact Tory saw the same thing she had herself felt when word had come through that Pegasus was the other Battlestar that had survived.
Kendra picked up a towel and wiped off her hands. “I didn’t bother to read the message. Anything the president has to say to me can go through my CO. I didn’t know it was you. Didn’t think you would have survived. You were supposed to be in Delphi.”
On the day the world ended, Tory mentally supplied. They’d frakked that morning, before Kendra had left. It seemed like a lifetime ago. It apparently was a lifetime ago.
“It was a last minute thing.” Tory closed the door and walked farther into the room. “We need to falsify your medical records, to provide cover for a security operation.”
“I don’t read my medical file, I probably wouldn’t have noticed if you went ahead and did it without telling me.” Pegasus’ new XO narrowed her eyes to focus on her. “Unless it’s something I’d notice.”
“I’m pretty sure you’d notice having a secret love child.”
For a second or two Tory was sure Kendra hadn’t heard her, and for another few after that she was sure that Kendra thought she hadn’t heard her right. “Excuse me?”
“We need to provide a plausible background for a child, and you are a good candidate for someone who would want to hide it for political reasons.”
“No one would believe I was pregnant, Tory.” It was the first time she’d used her ex-lovers name, and something about it made Tory smile.
“No, but lucky there aren’t many of us around who know enough about you to see the problem.”
Kendra looked like she wanted to ask details, but she was a good enough soldier that Tory’s earlier statement about security operations kept her form even voicing it. Finally the major just shrugged. “Whatever. Fine.” Almost as if Tory wasn’t there anymore she went back to punching the bag.
The political aide watched her for a moment. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was just that she was trying to see even the smallest part of a woman she once liked and admired-though even with the cherry lens of hindsight Tory wouldn’t have called it love. Maybe it was that she was trying to see what her friend had become. Or trying not to see it.
But in the end there was always truth. Say the things you know to be true.
“I know about the family. I’m going to have to tell the president about it.”
Kendra’s fist came to a gentle stop against the bag for a moment before she ripped at it with two or three nasty punches. “This isn’t the right time in the operational cycle for political interference.”
“You murdered civilians. Our civilians, Kendra.”
Tory’s voice carried a bit less outrage than she thought she should feel, but she’d examine that later.
“I was following orders.”
“I don’t think that’s going to save your position. Not in the middle of an election.”
“Do what you have to do Tory. Just don’t come back here again. We both died that day. It’s better that way.”
Tory was stunned, but Kendra had gone back to her assault on the punching bag, as if she wasn’t there. She debated trying to interrupt again, but instead just left. Closing the heavy bulkhead door behind her she just shook her head.
Fin.
Author: Major Fischer
Rating: Mature, no explicit sex or violence.
Universe: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Kendra Shaw/Tory Foster pre-Laura Roslin/Tory Foster (but very pre)
Summary: Kendra Shaw and Tory Foster meet up again for the first time since the world ended, but their burdens have changed them into women each would not recognize. Spoilers for Razor and the Hera storyline from Downloaded.
Author's Note: Written for runawaynun and projectjulie. A sequal to Ships at Twilight NC-17
Tory hated going over to the Pegasus.
Not that she did it often, and almost never by herself. Galactica wasn’t home, but it was rather like that gritty but really safe part of town where you knew that if someone tried to mug you everyone would come out into the street and beat the frak out of the offender. It was strange that she was starting to think of the fleet as a city, rather like Delphi, with each ship a distinct neighborhood. There were industrial ships and luxurious ships and conservative ships and ships where you could get just about anything you wanted.
Not everyone was happy to see someone from Colonial One come to visit their home, with our without the president, but Pegasus sent a shiver down Tory’s spine. Like just about everyone she encountered looked down on her as if she was some lesser form of life. A civilian. Someone to either be dismissed or to be used.
She supposed that was Cain’s legacy. Something made her rather doubt Lee Adama could do much about that.
She’d only been working for the president for a few weeks, and truthfully she wasn’t all that sure what to make of the woman yet. She knew who Laura Roslin was before the end of the world, in political circles she was rather hard to miss, even with her junior cabinet post. Her last boss, the mayor of Delphi had a few run-ins with her, much to his regret, over standardized testing. Education reform was a key part of the Federalist platform and one of their major targets had been the Caprica Teachers Union. And really, no friend of Adar’s was a friend of the mayor’s.
Tory was on an inter-colonial shuttle when the world ended, and one of the ships they’d had to abandon relatively early after their escape from the colonies. As a consequence she’d ended up bouncing from scummy ship to scummy ship since. The captains of the Cloud 9 and Rising Star weren’t all that interested in taking on too many refugees, and it wasn’t like she had a lot of marketable skills in this new world. At least until recently.
She’d been working pay roll on the refining ship-through exactly what money was worth in their situation was rather debatable-when she’d gotten the call from Colonial One.
It’s not that she wished Billy ill. She’d never met him, and from what she’d heard, he was a good man. There weren’t many of those left. But in truth she wasn’t sure if what they needed right now was good men. Good men weren’t going to keep the human race going.
Still, it’s not that she wished Billy ill, but the chance to be the president’s personal aide/chief of staff/head cook and bottle washer was too good to turn down. Even if the president was Laura Roslin. Even if the world of the presidency had shrunk to a heavy transport and however far she could make her authority reach.
Which Tory supposed is why she hated going to Pegasus, and why she hated the look in the mighty Battlestar crew’s eyes. These people weren’t human anymore, and Tory wasn’t sure yet if she felt pity or disgust for them because of it. She never had thought much about being human before the end of the world, but it seemed to her that was the one thing they couldn’t afford to loose entirely.
It didn’t surprise Tory that she was brooding about human frailties today. Human frailties were entirely why she was on Pegasus today. Hers were prologue, and hardly relevant, but they were going to color the conversation anyway.
She stopped at the door to a gym, the place was polished and clean, and didn’t smell anything like sweet and age the way Galactica’s did. Just was starting to think age was a lot of Galactica charm. She thought she might be finding a new appreciation for many things with a bit of age on them. The only occupant was a compact woman attacking a punching bag with a ferocity that in another life might have made Tory ask if the bag had kicked her dog or run over her cat.
But this wasn’t a woman for light teasing now. Which was sad. The teasing had been the best part of their relationship. “Do you always ignore messages from the President’s office, or did you not bother to see my name at the bottom?”
Her voice cut through the room enough that Major Kendra Shaw looked up surprised. In an instant of eye contact Tory saw the same thing she had herself felt when word had come through that Pegasus was the other Battlestar that had survived.
Kendra picked up a towel and wiped off her hands. “I didn’t bother to read the message. Anything the president has to say to me can go through my CO. I didn’t know it was you. Didn’t think you would have survived. You were supposed to be in Delphi.”
On the day the world ended, Tory mentally supplied. They’d frakked that morning, before Kendra had left. It seemed like a lifetime ago. It apparently was a lifetime ago.
“It was a last minute thing.” Tory closed the door and walked farther into the room. “We need to falsify your medical records, to provide cover for a security operation.”
“I don’t read my medical file, I probably wouldn’t have noticed if you went ahead and did it without telling me.” Pegasus’ new XO narrowed her eyes to focus on her. “Unless it’s something I’d notice.”
“I’m pretty sure you’d notice having a secret love child.”
For a second or two Tory was sure Kendra hadn’t heard her, and for another few after that she was sure that Kendra thought she hadn’t heard her right. “Excuse me?”
“We need to provide a plausible background for a child, and you are a good candidate for someone who would want to hide it for political reasons.”
“No one would believe I was pregnant, Tory.” It was the first time she’d used her ex-lovers name, and something about it made Tory smile.
“No, but lucky there aren’t many of us around who know enough about you to see the problem.”
Kendra looked like she wanted to ask details, but she was a good enough soldier that Tory’s earlier statement about security operations kept her form even voicing it. Finally the major just shrugged. “Whatever. Fine.” Almost as if Tory wasn’t there anymore she went back to punching the bag.
The political aide watched her for a moment. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was just that she was trying to see even the smallest part of a woman she once liked and admired-though even with the cherry lens of hindsight Tory wouldn’t have called it love. Maybe it was that she was trying to see what her friend had become. Or trying not to see it.
But in the end there was always truth. Say the things you know to be true.
“I know about the family. I’m going to have to tell the president about it.”
Kendra’s fist came to a gentle stop against the bag for a moment before she ripped at it with two or three nasty punches. “This isn’t the right time in the operational cycle for political interference.”
“You murdered civilians. Our civilians, Kendra.”
Tory’s voice carried a bit less outrage than she thought she should feel, but she’d examine that later.
“I was following orders.”
“I don’t think that’s going to save your position. Not in the middle of an election.”
“Do what you have to do Tory. Just don’t come back here again. We both died that day. It’s better that way.”
Tory was stunned, but Kendra had gone back to her assault on the punching bag, as if she wasn’t there. She debated trying to interrupt again, but instead just left. Closing the heavy bulkhead door behind her she just shook her head.
Fin.