Missing Chapter -Filling in the blanks
Ok, this week is going to be slightly different. narciscia is on holiday and my laptop unfortunately gave up the will to live and I lost everything so there will be a weeks delay on chapter 8. But I don't come empty handed, I did have this. It is still part of the fiction, we cut bits from the original version which is posted every Sunday and they became The Missing Chapters. They didn’t fit the story at the time so were removed and created into mini stories that fit into the fanfic but can also stand alone. This chapter was supposed to fit in-between chapter 1 and chapter 2.
I appologise for the delay everyone. :-)
Rating PG
Disclaimer We own nothing and are making no profit.
Summary Cut scene between chapters 1 and 2
Missing Chapter I: Firsts
He filled the basin with hot water, reaching out for his shaving foam. Methodically he brushed it onto his cheeks, chin and upper lip. Picking up the razor he scraped it in long strokes across his face, rinsing the foam from it as he went. He needed to think, Laura had been quiet, too quiet in recent days. She had been distant, even from him. Earth still a bitter disappointment for her, he hated seeing her like this, helplessness was not something he was accustomed to feeling. He needed a plan, something that would bring her round, give her hope again, something to focus on other than the state they arrived to find Earth in.
Finishing his ablutions he grabbed a towel from the rail and dabbed his face dry before folding it and placing it neatly over the edge of the basin. Buttoning up his uniform jacket he exited the head in to the main room. Laura was sat at his desk, gently chewing on the tip of her pen.. She was just staring at the page in front of her mumbling to herself, words he couldn't depict.
Bill sighed and poured himself a drink. Laura tracked his movements with narrowed eyes and waited for the split second before Bill took the first gulp of his drink to say, “Having another drink?”
Bill paused and turned to look at her with a mixture of annoyance and exasperation. She was upset and frustrated with the situation so she was doing what she usually did - she was picking a fight for the sake of it, just to vent.
“Laura… it’s one drink.”
She sighed dramatically and started to write furiously on the report in front of her, muttering something about how Lee would never be able to take over at this rate if his report skills were this sloppy. Her mutterings ended with an annoyed exclamation, “I don’t even know what this word is!”
Bill helpfully leaned over her shoulder, noting the way she leant away from him and folded her arms defensively. Tracing the word, noticing the way Lee still merged his letters together in a long scribble, he said, “The word is satisfactory.”
Laura peered down at the word again and then scoffed, “Satisfactory? He thinks this is satisfactory? I was better off not knowing what it said!”
At that moment there was a loud knock on the hatch, one that provided Bill with a moment of much needed relief. Hopefully it would be Saul, or Jack or someone to take him away from the woman who was at the moment both the love of his life and the bane of his evening.
When he was just about to open the door Laura called over, “If it’s for me I’m not here.” Bill took a deep calming breath, deciding not to tell her she was sitting directly in front of the door, clear for everyone to see. What’s more he knew she would make him stick to her outrageous demand and tell people she wasn’t home when they were staring directly at her.
As he turned the bolt on the hatch, starting to pull the door open, he sarcastically played out the scene in his head:
“She’s not here.”
“Sir isn’t that her?”
“No, that’s a life sized replica I made of her.”
“Sir?”
“Yes, out of parts left over from my model ship.”
When the hatch opened he was faced with a nervous looking recruit, one he hadn’t seen before. In the young blonde ladies hand was a large map, rolled into a tube.
“Sir,” she saluted stiffly, her fingers trembling slightly.
Bill resisted the urge to smile as the blonde’s eyes slid from his to peer in at the president. The girl was curious with just a tad of hero worship.
Distractedly she handed over the tub to the Admiral, “Sir, Mr Gaeta sir, told me to bring this to you sir, he said you would know what it is sir.”
Bill nodded firmly, “Thank you ….” he trailed off obviously waiting for her name.
“Oh, Katherine sir, Katherine Lance sir.”
“I appreciate it Katherine.”
He turned to go back inside when the girl’s voice made him pause, “Sir. I just wanted to say thank you, to you and the president for getting us to Earth.”
Deep within his quarters he heard Laura snort in false amusement and had to take another deep breath to cool his temper. Fortunately Katherine didn’t seem to notice, so Bill merely nodded and closed the hatch.
He looked at the tube in his hands, knowing exactly what it was and what it meant to him. It was ironic it would arrive now, when Laura seemed hell bent on testing his patience to the limit. And yet, despite how irrationally confrontational she was being he couldn’t help the tender wave of profound affection that seemed to swamp him whenever he looked at her. He adored her… even when she was being the biggest bitch in the solar system.
Feelings his eyes on her she looked up and snapped, “Yes?”
Smiling broadly he replied in a sincere murmur, “I love you.”
That threw her off. For a moment her icy façade melted away and her eyes softened. They shared a brief smile before Laura returned to her report and Bill moved to his desk to look over his new map.
Spreading the map over his desk, Bill put his glasses on and meticulously studied the map. After an hour Laura broke silence by pulling her wig off and throwing it on the table, “I hate this thing.” She then rummaged around for her scarf. Bill watched all this with barely concealed amusement. Laura was just plain pissed off - and when she was mad she was beautiful. The only problem was that the source of her anger was her deep hurt and disappointment in Earth. He wasn’t sure what he could do to overcome that. Time would heal that wound, there was nothing he could say that would fully placate her.
He looked down at the map and the circled area he had highlighted. He was doing all he could do - sticking to his plans. He just had to wait for Laura to stop wallowing in her regrets and join him in facing reality head on.
It was easier for him he supposed. Earth was a bitter disappointment, but he knew losing Laura would be worse. Faced with a choice between Laura and all his dreams for earth - he would choose Laura instantly, without question, every time. He had chosen her over his family, his career and even his life. So yes, Earth was disappointing, but Bill was blessed with the finite resolution that he honestly didn’t care as long as he had her.
It was taking Laura a little longer to reach this level of understanding. For so long her entire life had revolved around the quest for Earth - she felt it was all she had. While she was laying in her sickbed praying to find earth, he was sitting next to her praying only for her.
They had different priorities it seemed. And this was why he was taking the situation a lot better than she was. Earth wasn’t his life - she was.
Quietly he stood up and rolled up the map, “I’m heading to CIC, I won’t be long.”
She turned to look at him and he could see that the mood had started to fade; she braved a wobbly smile, “Ok Bill.”
The Admiral marched quickly through the corridors, nodding to crew as he passed, some looking rather upbeat and enthused while others looked lost and depressed. He supposed the ones that were upbeat where the ones who never assumed they would get to Earth so were happy with whatever state the planet was in; while those who were depressed had imagined a heavenly utopia (like Laura had) and found themselves disappointed.
Instead of heading to CIC like he had informed Laura, he instead headed to the Ward Room. The room was empty except for Felix Gaeta who was sat pouring over maps and readings. The table was brimming with information that the young man was trying to organise as efficiently as possible.
“Mr Gaeta.”
The boy looked up and managed a weak, sickly smile - his face still pasty white, the pain from his injury was obvious.
“Sir.”
“I believe I have identified an area,” Bill said, spreading the map on the table and pointing out the section he had circled.
Gaeta nodded and pulled out a matching map and copied the highlighted area, making sure the co-ordinates were identical. “That’s fine sir.”
“Thank you,” after a pause Bill added, “How are you doing son?”
The boy nodded, “Getting there sir, can’t complain.”
You could complain, Bill thought, but you won’t. Good lad.
Felix Gaeta was made of sterner stuff than people gave him credit for.
Gaeta traced his fingers over a large red line that circled the large area of the planet they were focusing on for settlement, “This line here sir represents the boundary, everyone will be settled inside the boundary, those outside will be beyond the protection of the joint human and cylon protective forces.”
Bill nodded, “As agreed. Good job. Make sure everyone is aware of this.”
Bill studied the grey area outside the boundary line, “I doubt anyone would want to venture out there anyway.”
“No sir.”
For a long moment Bill stared at that red line, feeling a strange pull. When Gaeta coughed Bill was broken out of his daze and instantly stepped back, “That’s all. Carry on Mr Gaeta.”
“Thank you sir.”
***
When Bill returned home he found Laura where he left her, sitting over her reports, head scarf and glasses on. She glanced up, “Where have you been?” This time there was no anger in her voice, she seemed calmer and quiet. Her temper having faded into a vague melancholy.
“To CIC.”
“No,” she smiled softly, “I checked there.” She slipped her glasses off and placed them on the table, “I was being difficult and you needed some time alone, I understand.”
Bill chuckled gently and moved to sit next to her, “No, that wasn’t it. But yes, you were being difficult.”
She laughed briefly, “I suppose I was. Gods Bill… I feel like I’m on an emotional rollercoaster at the moment.” Laura gave him a saucily smile, “Pour me a drink? I could use a pick-me-up.”
“I think I can do better than that,” he husked, placing the map on the table and unrolling it.
Instantly Laura slipped her glasses on and surveyed the picture, noticing all the notes and marks scattered over it, “What am I looking at exactly?”
“Well,” Bill said softly, “Everything within the red boarder is our settlement.”
Laura smiled and leaned closer, “I see.”
“But I wanted you to look at something specifically.” He pointed to an area near the left side of the map, near the boarder, “Here.”
He studied Laura’s face as she peered over to look at where he was pointing, “Ok… what is it?”
“This,” he smiled, “Is where I’m going to build our cabin.”
Her eyes flew from the map to his, a look of surprise and wonder in them.
He continued, “It’s near the water, so close in fact that we will be able to watch the boats and listen to the water crash on the rocks,” his voice was a gentle rumble, soft and coaxing. “It backs onto a large chalk cliff and gets the sun in the morning and shades from the wind at night.”
He smiled at her, a true, toothy smile - bright and radiating happiness. Laura grinned back, a tear slipping from her eye as a whirlwind of emotions bubbled within her. “Well,” she said shakily, brushing the tear from her cheek, “you seem awfully sure of yourself.”
“Is there any doubt?” he asked. Was there any doubt they would do this? That they would be together?
“No,” she gazed down at the map, seeing the illegible military markings but imagining a perfect little cabin by the sea.
“So when do we start work?” she asked, feeling an alien sense of optimism start to swell within her.
“In a month.”
Laura’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “A month?”
“There’s a few things to get sorted beforehand. I need to sort out shift rotations with Helo and Starbuck. I want the main buildings set up first. Cottle says you need two weeks grace before moving planetside and somewhere within all that we need to get married.”
There was a long pause while Laura processed his words, “Did you just propose?”
Bill made a show of rolling the map up and looking deliberately nonchalant, “No, I told you we were getting married.”
She laughed feeling both excited and totally shocked, “I don’t have a say?”
“No, I’ve been planning this since New Caprica. You saying ‘no’ wasn’t an option.”
She started at him in surprise, both of them grinning like lovestruck fools, “Well, for the record I would have said yes.”
He leaned in for a kiss, “Good to know.”
They kissed deeply for a long moment, both trying to process the many emotions swamping them: exhilaration and a delirious happiness drowning out any original fears and sadness over Earth.
For the first time since they had found the wretched planet Laura was happy. She pulled back from the kiss and rested her forehead against his, “This is surreal.”
“I love you.” He murmured softly into her ear.
“Even when I’m being completely unreasonable?”
“Especially then.”
I appologise for the delay everyone. :-)
Rating PG
Disclaimer We own nothing and are making no profit.
Summary Cut scene between chapters 1 and 2
Missing Chapter I: Firsts
He filled the basin with hot water, reaching out for his shaving foam. Methodically he brushed it onto his cheeks, chin and upper lip. Picking up the razor he scraped it in long strokes across his face, rinsing the foam from it as he went. He needed to think, Laura had been quiet, too quiet in recent days. She had been distant, even from him. Earth still a bitter disappointment for her, he hated seeing her like this, helplessness was not something he was accustomed to feeling. He needed a plan, something that would bring her round, give her hope again, something to focus on other than the state they arrived to find Earth in.
Finishing his ablutions he grabbed a towel from the rail and dabbed his face dry before folding it and placing it neatly over the edge of the basin. Buttoning up his uniform jacket he exited the head in to the main room. Laura was sat at his desk, gently chewing on the tip of her pen.. She was just staring at the page in front of her mumbling to herself, words he couldn't depict.
Bill sighed and poured himself a drink. Laura tracked his movements with narrowed eyes and waited for the split second before Bill took the first gulp of his drink to say, “Having another drink?”
Bill paused and turned to look at her with a mixture of annoyance and exasperation. She was upset and frustrated with the situation so she was doing what she usually did - she was picking a fight for the sake of it, just to vent.
“Laura… it’s one drink.”
She sighed dramatically and started to write furiously on the report in front of her, muttering something about how Lee would never be able to take over at this rate if his report skills were this sloppy. Her mutterings ended with an annoyed exclamation, “I don’t even know what this word is!”
Bill helpfully leaned over her shoulder, noting the way she leant away from him and folded her arms defensively. Tracing the word, noticing the way Lee still merged his letters together in a long scribble, he said, “The word is satisfactory.”
Laura peered down at the word again and then scoffed, “Satisfactory? He thinks this is satisfactory? I was better off not knowing what it said!”
At that moment there was a loud knock on the hatch, one that provided Bill with a moment of much needed relief. Hopefully it would be Saul, or Jack or someone to take him away from the woman who was at the moment both the love of his life and the bane of his evening.
When he was just about to open the door Laura called over, “If it’s for me I’m not here.” Bill took a deep calming breath, deciding not to tell her she was sitting directly in front of the door, clear for everyone to see. What’s more he knew she would make him stick to her outrageous demand and tell people she wasn’t home when they were staring directly at her.
As he turned the bolt on the hatch, starting to pull the door open, he sarcastically played out the scene in his head:
“She’s not here.”
“Sir isn’t that her?”
“No, that’s a life sized replica I made of her.”
“Sir?”
“Yes, out of parts left over from my model ship.”
When the hatch opened he was faced with a nervous looking recruit, one he hadn’t seen before. In the young blonde ladies hand was a large map, rolled into a tube.
“Sir,” she saluted stiffly, her fingers trembling slightly.
Bill resisted the urge to smile as the blonde’s eyes slid from his to peer in at the president. The girl was curious with just a tad of hero worship.
Distractedly she handed over the tub to the Admiral, “Sir, Mr Gaeta sir, told me to bring this to you sir, he said you would know what it is sir.”
Bill nodded firmly, “Thank you ….” he trailed off obviously waiting for her name.
“Oh, Katherine sir, Katherine Lance sir.”
“I appreciate it Katherine.”
He turned to go back inside when the girl’s voice made him pause, “Sir. I just wanted to say thank you, to you and the president for getting us to Earth.”
Deep within his quarters he heard Laura snort in false amusement and had to take another deep breath to cool his temper. Fortunately Katherine didn’t seem to notice, so Bill merely nodded and closed the hatch.
He looked at the tube in his hands, knowing exactly what it was and what it meant to him. It was ironic it would arrive now, when Laura seemed hell bent on testing his patience to the limit. And yet, despite how irrationally confrontational she was being he couldn’t help the tender wave of profound affection that seemed to swamp him whenever he looked at her. He adored her… even when she was being the biggest bitch in the solar system.
Feelings his eyes on her she looked up and snapped, “Yes?”
Smiling broadly he replied in a sincere murmur, “I love you.”
That threw her off. For a moment her icy façade melted away and her eyes softened. They shared a brief smile before Laura returned to her report and Bill moved to his desk to look over his new map.
Spreading the map over his desk, Bill put his glasses on and meticulously studied the map. After an hour Laura broke silence by pulling her wig off and throwing it on the table, “I hate this thing.” She then rummaged around for her scarf. Bill watched all this with barely concealed amusement. Laura was just plain pissed off - and when she was mad she was beautiful. The only problem was that the source of her anger was her deep hurt and disappointment in Earth. He wasn’t sure what he could do to overcome that. Time would heal that wound, there was nothing he could say that would fully placate her.
He looked down at the map and the circled area he had highlighted. He was doing all he could do - sticking to his plans. He just had to wait for Laura to stop wallowing in her regrets and join him in facing reality head on.
It was easier for him he supposed. Earth was a bitter disappointment, but he knew losing Laura would be worse. Faced with a choice between Laura and all his dreams for earth - he would choose Laura instantly, without question, every time. He had chosen her over his family, his career and even his life. So yes, Earth was disappointing, but Bill was blessed with the finite resolution that he honestly didn’t care as long as he had her.
It was taking Laura a little longer to reach this level of understanding. For so long her entire life had revolved around the quest for Earth - she felt it was all she had. While she was laying in her sickbed praying to find earth, he was sitting next to her praying only for her.
They had different priorities it seemed. And this was why he was taking the situation a lot better than she was. Earth wasn’t his life - she was.
Quietly he stood up and rolled up the map, “I’m heading to CIC, I won’t be long.”
She turned to look at him and he could see that the mood had started to fade; she braved a wobbly smile, “Ok Bill.”
The Admiral marched quickly through the corridors, nodding to crew as he passed, some looking rather upbeat and enthused while others looked lost and depressed. He supposed the ones that were upbeat where the ones who never assumed they would get to Earth so were happy with whatever state the planet was in; while those who were depressed had imagined a heavenly utopia (like Laura had) and found themselves disappointed.
Instead of heading to CIC like he had informed Laura, he instead headed to the Ward Room. The room was empty except for Felix Gaeta who was sat pouring over maps and readings. The table was brimming with information that the young man was trying to organise as efficiently as possible.
“Mr Gaeta.”
The boy looked up and managed a weak, sickly smile - his face still pasty white, the pain from his injury was obvious.
“Sir.”
“I believe I have identified an area,” Bill said, spreading the map on the table and pointing out the section he had circled.
Gaeta nodded and pulled out a matching map and copied the highlighted area, making sure the co-ordinates were identical. “That’s fine sir.”
“Thank you,” after a pause Bill added, “How are you doing son?”
The boy nodded, “Getting there sir, can’t complain.”
You could complain, Bill thought, but you won’t. Good lad.
Felix Gaeta was made of sterner stuff than people gave him credit for.
Gaeta traced his fingers over a large red line that circled the large area of the planet they were focusing on for settlement, “This line here sir represents the boundary, everyone will be settled inside the boundary, those outside will be beyond the protection of the joint human and cylon protective forces.”
Bill nodded, “As agreed. Good job. Make sure everyone is aware of this.”
Bill studied the grey area outside the boundary line, “I doubt anyone would want to venture out there anyway.”
“No sir.”
For a long moment Bill stared at that red line, feeling a strange pull. When Gaeta coughed Bill was broken out of his daze and instantly stepped back, “That’s all. Carry on Mr Gaeta.”
“Thank you sir.”
***
When Bill returned home he found Laura where he left her, sitting over her reports, head scarf and glasses on. She glanced up, “Where have you been?” This time there was no anger in her voice, she seemed calmer and quiet. Her temper having faded into a vague melancholy.
“To CIC.”
“No,” she smiled softly, “I checked there.” She slipped her glasses off and placed them on the table, “I was being difficult and you needed some time alone, I understand.”
Bill chuckled gently and moved to sit next to her, “No, that wasn’t it. But yes, you were being difficult.”
She laughed briefly, “I suppose I was. Gods Bill… I feel like I’m on an emotional rollercoaster at the moment.” Laura gave him a saucily smile, “Pour me a drink? I could use a pick-me-up.”
“I think I can do better than that,” he husked, placing the map on the table and unrolling it.
Instantly Laura slipped her glasses on and surveyed the picture, noticing all the notes and marks scattered over it, “What am I looking at exactly?”
“Well,” Bill said softly, “Everything within the red boarder is our settlement.”
Laura smiled and leaned closer, “I see.”
“But I wanted you to look at something specifically.” He pointed to an area near the left side of the map, near the boarder, “Here.”
He studied Laura’s face as she peered over to look at where he was pointing, “Ok… what is it?”
“This,” he smiled, “Is where I’m going to build our cabin.”
Her eyes flew from the map to his, a look of surprise and wonder in them.
He continued, “It’s near the water, so close in fact that we will be able to watch the boats and listen to the water crash on the rocks,” his voice was a gentle rumble, soft and coaxing. “It backs onto a large chalk cliff and gets the sun in the morning and shades from the wind at night.”
He smiled at her, a true, toothy smile - bright and radiating happiness. Laura grinned back, a tear slipping from her eye as a whirlwind of emotions bubbled within her. “Well,” she said shakily, brushing the tear from her cheek, “you seem awfully sure of yourself.”
“Is there any doubt?” he asked. Was there any doubt they would do this? That they would be together?
“No,” she gazed down at the map, seeing the illegible military markings but imagining a perfect little cabin by the sea.
“So when do we start work?” she asked, feeling an alien sense of optimism start to swell within her.
“In a month.”
Laura’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “A month?”
“There’s a few things to get sorted beforehand. I need to sort out shift rotations with Helo and Starbuck. I want the main buildings set up first. Cottle says you need two weeks grace before moving planetside and somewhere within all that we need to get married.”
There was a long pause while Laura processed his words, “Did you just propose?”
Bill made a show of rolling the map up and looking deliberately nonchalant, “No, I told you we were getting married.”
She laughed feeling both excited and totally shocked, “I don’t have a say?”
“No, I’ve been planning this since New Caprica. You saying ‘no’ wasn’t an option.”
She started at him in surprise, both of them grinning like lovestruck fools, “Well, for the record I would have said yes.”
He leaned in for a kiss, “Good to know.”
They kissed deeply for a long moment, both trying to process the many emotions swamping them: exhilaration and a delirious happiness drowning out any original fears and sadness over Earth.
For the first time since they had found the wretched planet Laura was happy. She pulled back from the kiss and rested her forehead against his, “This is surreal.”
“I love you.” He murmured softly into her ear.
“Even when I’m being completely unreasonable?”
“Especially then.”