FIC: Something About Today
Title: Something About Today
Summary: There's something about the calendar that's bugging Gaius.
Pairings: Baltar/Six and past Baltar/Gaeta
Rating: PG-13, at the most
Spoilers: through the New Caprica arc
Note: Happy birthday, millari!!!! Only for you would I try to write sympathetic Occupation-era Gaius Baltar. Hope you like it!
There was something about the calendar that triggered his memory, but Gaius couldn't think what it was.
"And if you authorize the construction of a paper facility, even a small one, I'm sure you would find an uptake in people's morale. I've been around humans enough to know that the smallest physical comforts can hold immense power over them."
"Like toilet paper," Gaius drawled.
"Like toilet paper," a Doral- the Doral?- agreed. There was something oddly earnest about his face, and hard at the same time. Like a child playing at being the bad guys, but playing all too effectively. "Not having access to such a simple commodity leaves people angry and helpless. They don't mind adapting to not having the big luxuries. The human mind can cope with that. But not having those things they once regarded as necessities… that isn't so easy to deal with."
"So, handing out rolls of toilet paper is the solution to all of the Cylon problems."
The Doral scowled at him. "I wouldn't expect you to be so literal."
"Yes, well, having one's race entirely subjugated does tend to bring out a certain amount of cynicism. So forgive me if I'm not jumping up and down at the thought of a toilet paper manufacturing facility." Although he had to admit that the idea of having toilet paper again was a strong lure.
Gaius leaned back and stared moodily at his desk. The calendar continued to mock him.
***
"-the Resistance continues to operate, despite this so-called Police Force! What good are they if they can't even keep a bunch of rabble rousers-"
"I would hardly call suicide bombers rabble rousers," a Three objected.
"Well, hooligans, crazies, dangerous elements- pick your terms, I really don't care. But the fact is that these people should be in detention. No, I take that back. They should be dead," the One insisted.
Gaius fumbled with the cap of the pills, and then popped two in his mouth and swallowed them dry. Only thirteen minutes until the damn things took effect, and then his headache and his problems would float away for a while. He imagined the Cylons drifting away on pink fluffy clouds and almost burst into giggles.
***
"Mr. President. Mr. President!"
Gaius didn't want to open his eyes. When they were closed, he could let Felix's voice wash over him and he could pretend. Pretend they were back on the Galactica, working on that joke of a Cylon detector, when everyone had looked to him as a great mind and scientist. Pretend they were back in the first days of New Caprica, when everyone looked to him as a beacon of hope. Pretend that they were back in bed, when Felix looked at him with love in his eyes.
"Gaius!" Felix was shaking him, and Gaius no longer had a choice. He had to open his eyes and see the disappointment. He dragged the lids open.
"What happened to you?" he asked, staring at his aide.
"Nothing," Felix said irritably, brushing at the trickle of blood that dripped down his temple.
"Felix…" Gaius's stomach turned, and he sat up. "Let me look at it."
"Sir, you have other things you need to be attending to. There are the ration lists and the orders for-"
"Felix, it's a head wound. Now let me look." Gaius stood up and forced Felix into a chair. Felix sat, not looking directly at him. Gaius took his chin and tilted his face upwards. "It doesn't look bad," he said, with something like disappointment.
"No, it's not. No need to play the hero," Felix said sarcastically. He looked away.
He should press to find out what happened. He should order Felix to tell him, break through the walls the young man was building up around himself, pry at the reasons that Felix never smiled anymore, and always looked tired and wary. But it was too much effort for what would likely be too little payoff, and Gaius collapsed on the couch. "Well, Mr. Gaeta, what terribly urgent matter are you bothering me with today? The plight of another falsely accused Resistance member, sent to detention for crimes you swear they didn't commit? An orphan left by a suicide bomber?"
Felix's face hardened. "Just the usual, Mr. President, but if the ration orders are not signed, our people don't eat."
Gaius sighed. "Do you ever think it would be kinder not to sign them? Just to let everyone end it all?"
"Starvation is hardly an easy death, sir. Now if you would sign-"
"What is today, Felix?"
"Um, excuse me?"
"There's something significant about today. A meeting, an anniversary… I've been trying to think of it all day, but the detail escapes me. What is it?"
"I don't know, sir. I don't even know the date. Now sign this, and I'll leave you to your… work."
Gaius obeyed, and then watched Felix leave, his shoulders slumped under the weight of occupation. Felix never forgot details like what the date was- he couldn't not know.
Felix was lying.
***
Gaius listened to the Cylons talking about the prisoners, convincing himself they weren't talking about doing what they were planning.
"Zarek. Roslin. Rose. Abener." The list was voted on in a near silent process. There were never any arguments, and rarely even discussions. Gaius had not seen the Cylons so united in their front.
Of course, it helped that Caprica Six and Boomer were not in the room.
"What about those we don't have in detention?" Cavil asked, his eyes gleaming in a predatory manner.
As Gaius listened to them come up with names, he wondered precisely how he was doing it. Ryan Trosson was a thirteen-year-old kid; Gaius firmly doubted that he was in the Resistance. Cally Tyrol was so wrapped up with a baby that she probably wasn't blowing up-
"Gaeta," a Four said.
Gaius went still.
"Gaeta?" Cavil asked. "Baltar's little twit? He's harmless."
"He wants you to think that he is," the Four said. "But he's not. He's on their side."
"We agree," the Five said. "He's more dangerous than he looks."
Felix… in the Resistance… of course he was. Maybe not overtly, but Gaius knew Felix, and he knew there was no way he wouldn't fight this. Why hadn't he seen it before?
"He's still useful," a Three argued. "And we keep him so busy and under such close watch, I don't know how he could possibly be working for the Resistance."
"He gave us names of people to be released from detention," an Eight pointed out. "How can you say he's not working for the Resistance?"
The Six made a face. "He didn't try for known Resistance members like Saul Tigh or Laura Roslin," she pointed out. "He's asking to get out people of little consequence."
"People we think are of little consequence. Don't let the fact a woman has a baby or a man is only sixteen fool you," the Eight said. "They're just as dangerous."
"You are taking care of those names, aren't you?" Cavil confirmed.
"Of course," the Eight said.
"Well, we'd better play it safe. Plus, if we take Gaeta, it sends the message that you need to stay in line, no matter what service you've given us in the past. And-"
"No! Wait!" the words burst out of Gaius before he could stop them.
The Cylons all turned to face him. "Yes?" Cavil asked.
"I know about the lists that Gaeta gives you," he said, looking at the Eight. "And I've known what you're doing with them." He couldn't help but realize it. There was a reason he didn't look at the detention lists anymore. "And he knows what he's doing as well."
"Nonsense," the Eight said.
Gaius stood and took a step towards her. "How well do you know Felix Gaeta?" he asked her.
"Quite well, I should think," she said with a certain spark in her eye.
"Well, I'd venture I know him even better than you do. Felix is an idealist, yes, and he is former military, through and through. But Felix also insists on seeing the world a certain way, and he will bend truths until they fit what he wants to see. He'll change the truth in his mind until it gives him hope. Believe me, I've seen that look in his eyes more often than you ever will.
"Felix knows who has won here on New Caprica, just as I know it, just as those who have joined the New Caprican Police know it. And he wants to survive. But if he's to survive, he can't admit to himself that he knows what he's doing when he gives you those lists. But he does. Believe me, he does. He's too intelligent not to."
"You're sure of this," the Six said.
Gaius looked at her, head raised. "I would bet my life on it."
The table was silent for a moment. Gaius tried not to hold his breath. They had to believe him- they just had to believe him. They couldn't kill... he was lying, of course. But if a lie would save Felix, then Gaius would gladly sell out Felix's ideals to keep him alive.
Then the Five said, "He is useful."
"Keep him monitored," Cavil ordered. "Any evidence, and we drag him out into the street and we shoot him publicly." He looked at Gaius. "You'd better be right about this one."
Gaius nodded. "I am," he insisted.
***
New Caprica. A failure in democracy, a failure in government, a failure in a new life. Gaius had no illusions about what kind of President he had been.
"I heard about the meeting," Caprica Six said as they undressed for bed. "Cavil was amused."
"Amused. Really?"
"That President Gaius Baltar actually decided to play the hero for a day." She looked at him with that look, the one he'd seen on Caprica, the one he'd seen in Felix's eyes. "You saved Gaeta's life."
"Oh, yes. That."
She smiled. "Well, at least this year you can say you didn't forget his birthday."
"What?" Gaius stared at her, frozen with one foot up on the bed.
Caprica Six shrugged as she slipped under the covers. "His birthday. It's today, and you gave him back his life."
So that was what had been nagging him all day. Gaius laughed. "I suppose so," he said. "Well then, happy birthday, Felix."
Summary: There's something about the calendar that's bugging Gaius.
Pairings: Baltar/Six and past Baltar/Gaeta
Rating: PG-13, at the most
Spoilers: through the New Caprica arc
Note: Happy birthday, millari!!!! Only for you would I try to write sympathetic Occupation-era Gaius Baltar. Hope you like it!
There was something about the calendar that triggered his memory, but Gaius couldn't think what it was.
"And if you authorize the construction of a paper facility, even a small one, I'm sure you would find an uptake in people's morale. I've been around humans enough to know that the smallest physical comforts can hold immense power over them."
"Like toilet paper," Gaius drawled.
"Like toilet paper," a Doral- the Doral?- agreed. There was something oddly earnest about his face, and hard at the same time. Like a child playing at being the bad guys, but playing all too effectively. "Not having access to such a simple commodity leaves people angry and helpless. They don't mind adapting to not having the big luxuries. The human mind can cope with that. But not having those things they once regarded as necessities… that isn't so easy to deal with."
"So, handing out rolls of toilet paper is the solution to all of the Cylon problems."
The Doral scowled at him. "I wouldn't expect you to be so literal."
"Yes, well, having one's race entirely subjugated does tend to bring out a certain amount of cynicism. So forgive me if I'm not jumping up and down at the thought of a toilet paper manufacturing facility." Although he had to admit that the idea of having toilet paper again was a strong lure.
Gaius leaned back and stared moodily at his desk. The calendar continued to mock him.
***
"-the Resistance continues to operate, despite this so-called Police Force! What good are they if they can't even keep a bunch of rabble rousers-"
"I would hardly call suicide bombers rabble rousers," a Three objected.
"Well, hooligans, crazies, dangerous elements- pick your terms, I really don't care. But the fact is that these people should be in detention. No, I take that back. They should be dead," the One insisted.
Gaius fumbled with the cap of the pills, and then popped two in his mouth and swallowed them dry. Only thirteen minutes until the damn things took effect, and then his headache and his problems would float away for a while. He imagined the Cylons drifting away on pink fluffy clouds and almost burst into giggles.
***
"Mr. President. Mr. President!"
Gaius didn't want to open his eyes. When they were closed, he could let Felix's voice wash over him and he could pretend. Pretend they were back on the Galactica, working on that joke of a Cylon detector, when everyone had looked to him as a great mind and scientist. Pretend they were back in the first days of New Caprica, when everyone looked to him as a beacon of hope. Pretend that they were back in bed, when Felix looked at him with love in his eyes.
"Gaius!" Felix was shaking him, and Gaius no longer had a choice. He had to open his eyes and see the disappointment. He dragged the lids open.
"What happened to you?" he asked, staring at his aide.
"Nothing," Felix said irritably, brushing at the trickle of blood that dripped down his temple.
"Felix…" Gaius's stomach turned, and he sat up. "Let me look at it."
"Sir, you have other things you need to be attending to. There are the ration lists and the orders for-"
"Felix, it's a head wound. Now let me look." Gaius stood up and forced Felix into a chair. Felix sat, not looking directly at him. Gaius took his chin and tilted his face upwards. "It doesn't look bad," he said, with something like disappointment.
"No, it's not. No need to play the hero," Felix said sarcastically. He looked away.
He should press to find out what happened. He should order Felix to tell him, break through the walls the young man was building up around himself, pry at the reasons that Felix never smiled anymore, and always looked tired and wary. But it was too much effort for what would likely be too little payoff, and Gaius collapsed on the couch. "Well, Mr. Gaeta, what terribly urgent matter are you bothering me with today? The plight of another falsely accused Resistance member, sent to detention for crimes you swear they didn't commit? An orphan left by a suicide bomber?"
Felix's face hardened. "Just the usual, Mr. President, but if the ration orders are not signed, our people don't eat."
Gaius sighed. "Do you ever think it would be kinder not to sign them? Just to let everyone end it all?"
"Starvation is hardly an easy death, sir. Now if you would sign-"
"What is today, Felix?"
"Um, excuse me?"
"There's something significant about today. A meeting, an anniversary… I've been trying to think of it all day, but the detail escapes me. What is it?"
"I don't know, sir. I don't even know the date. Now sign this, and I'll leave you to your… work."
Gaius obeyed, and then watched Felix leave, his shoulders slumped under the weight of occupation. Felix never forgot details like what the date was- he couldn't not know.
Felix was lying.
***
Gaius listened to the Cylons talking about the prisoners, convincing himself they weren't talking about doing what they were planning.
"Zarek. Roslin. Rose. Abener." The list was voted on in a near silent process. There were never any arguments, and rarely even discussions. Gaius had not seen the Cylons so united in their front.
Of course, it helped that Caprica Six and Boomer were not in the room.
"What about those we don't have in detention?" Cavil asked, his eyes gleaming in a predatory manner.
As Gaius listened to them come up with names, he wondered precisely how he was doing it. Ryan Trosson was a thirteen-year-old kid; Gaius firmly doubted that he was in the Resistance. Cally Tyrol was so wrapped up with a baby that she probably wasn't blowing up-
"Gaeta," a Four said.
Gaius went still.
"Gaeta?" Cavil asked. "Baltar's little twit? He's harmless."
"He wants you to think that he is," the Four said. "But he's not. He's on their side."
"We agree," the Five said. "He's more dangerous than he looks."
Felix… in the Resistance… of course he was. Maybe not overtly, but Gaius knew Felix, and he knew there was no way he wouldn't fight this. Why hadn't he seen it before?
"He's still useful," a Three argued. "And we keep him so busy and under such close watch, I don't know how he could possibly be working for the Resistance."
"He gave us names of people to be released from detention," an Eight pointed out. "How can you say he's not working for the Resistance?"
The Six made a face. "He didn't try for known Resistance members like Saul Tigh or Laura Roslin," she pointed out. "He's asking to get out people of little consequence."
"People we think are of little consequence. Don't let the fact a woman has a baby or a man is only sixteen fool you," the Eight said. "They're just as dangerous."
"You are taking care of those names, aren't you?" Cavil confirmed.
"Of course," the Eight said.
"Well, we'd better play it safe. Plus, if we take Gaeta, it sends the message that you need to stay in line, no matter what service you've given us in the past. And-"
"No! Wait!" the words burst out of Gaius before he could stop them.
The Cylons all turned to face him. "Yes?" Cavil asked.
"I know about the lists that Gaeta gives you," he said, looking at the Eight. "And I've known what you're doing with them." He couldn't help but realize it. There was a reason he didn't look at the detention lists anymore. "And he knows what he's doing as well."
"Nonsense," the Eight said.
Gaius stood and took a step towards her. "How well do you know Felix Gaeta?" he asked her.
"Quite well, I should think," she said with a certain spark in her eye.
"Well, I'd venture I know him even better than you do. Felix is an idealist, yes, and he is former military, through and through. But Felix also insists on seeing the world a certain way, and he will bend truths until they fit what he wants to see. He'll change the truth in his mind until it gives him hope. Believe me, I've seen that look in his eyes more often than you ever will.
"Felix knows who has won here on New Caprica, just as I know it, just as those who have joined the New Caprican Police know it. And he wants to survive. But if he's to survive, he can't admit to himself that he knows what he's doing when he gives you those lists. But he does. Believe me, he does. He's too intelligent not to."
"You're sure of this," the Six said.
Gaius looked at her, head raised. "I would bet my life on it."
The table was silent for a moment. Gaius tried not to hold his breath. They had to believe him- they just had to believe him. They couldn't kill... he was lying, of course. But if a lie would save Felix, then Gaius would gladly sell out Felix's ideals to keep him alive.
Then the Five said, "He is useful."
"Keep him monitored," Cavil ordered. "Any evidence, and we drag him out into the street and we shoot him publicly." He looked at Gaius. "You'd better be right about this one."
Gaius nodded. "I am," he insisted.
***
New Caprica. A failure in democracy, a failure in government, a failure in a new life. Gaius had no illusions about what kind of President he had been.
"I heard about the meeting," Caprica Six said as they undressed for bed. "Cavil was amused."
"Amused. Really?"
"That President Gaius Baltar actually decided to play the hero for a day." She looked at him with that look, the one he'd seen on Caprica, the one he'd seen in Felix's eyes. "You saved Gaeta's life."
"Oh, yes. That."
She smiled. "Well, at least this year you can say you didn't forget his birthday."
"What?" Gaius stared at her, frozen with one foot up on the bed.
Caprica Six shrugged as she slipped under the covers. "His birthday. It's today, and you gave him back his life."
So that was what had been nagging him all day. Gaius laughed. "I suppose so," he said. "Well then, happy birthday, Felix."