FIC: The Road Diverged, Chapter 11
Title: The Road Diverged, Chapter Eleven
Author: The Plaid Slytherin (plaid_slytherin)
Characters/Pairings: Bill/Saul, Laura/Lee
Rating (this chapter): T
Summary: As Lee begins to explore his new relationship with Laura, Bill starts to realize his feelings for Saul may go deeper than mere friendship. Two relationships develop in parallel, with ramifications not only for each other, but for the entire fleet.
A/N: Written for deborah_judge for the help_japan auction, who wanted Bill/Saul and Laura/Lee in the same fic. This is an AU spanning the entire series, beginning, of course, at the beginning. Thanks to astreamofstars for betaing and much input. This chapter begins the Kobol arc!
Previously: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten
As Boomer flew Bill back to Galactica, he tried to calm himself. He didn't want to go in there and start yelling at his son. It was good that they'd already planned to work out together and Bill was pleased to see Lee want to put the gloves on again. He'd thought Lee had stopped being interested in boxing when he'd cut Bill out of his life. He had no idea he'd kept it up, and kept it up well. If Bill wanted to keep his relationship with his son, he would have to approach this issue carefully.
After all, he didn't even think the newssheet was telling the truth. Lee could never be so stupid as to actually be sleeping with the President of the Twelve Colonies. He just needed to be warned how his role as her advisor could look to the press. Bill had been dealing with the press criticizing his decisions his whole command career. After Valkyrie had been a nightmare and he knew Lee had gotten some flak for that just for being Bill's son. He would just remind him of things like that.
Heck, it wasn't like he wanted to make him stop being Roslin's advisor, though that didn't exactly make Bill's life easy.
As he headed for the gym, he was mentally planning out what he wanted to say. Lee would have to see reason.
**
His father would kill him.
You didn't stand Bill Adama up, especially not first thing in the morning, especially not for a workout. At least there was no way for Bill to find out Lee had spent the night on Cloud Nine with Laura. He'd thought he would be able to get back to Galactica in time, but there hadn't been any transport.
"Sorry I'm late," he said as he entered the gym.
His father had already started working with a punching bag. He did not pause when Lee entered. "You still want to do this?" He threw another series of punches at the bag.
"Yeah." Lee tried to be quick about changing, but he was still feeling off and that, he decided, was where it had all started going wrong. Not that he'd really expected to win sparring with the old man, but he'd thought he could do better than this.
He really couldn't lose his edge over Laura, nor could he let his father intimidate him. Maybe that was the problem-he never could stand up to the Commander.
Lee staggered as he took another punch.
"Wake up, son." Bill pulled his mouth guard back in and fell into another stance. Lee matched him, determined to pull one over his father. He tried to remember what he'd learned at officer candidate school, how to block, how to deceive your opponent, but none of these strategies worked on his father.
"Your head's somewhere else," Bill said, helping him up once he'd knocked him to the floor. "Want to talk about it?"
Lee hesitated, as he toweled off. He couldn't tell his father what was on his mind, that he couldn't stop thinking about Laura, that he'd never felt this way about anyone before. Part of him wished he could go to his father for advice, could trust him to take it the right way and, well, act like a father, but he didn't think he could just yet.
Lee shrugged.
Bill sat down on the bench and indicated Lee should sit beside him. "Well, there's something I want to talk about." He bent to pick up his uniform pants and pulled something out of the pocket.
It was a folded newssheet.
Lee's heart sank as he read the headline.
"This is just gossip, Dad."
"I know," his father said coolly. "But just because it's newssheet gossip doesn't mean people aren't going to take it the wrong way, interpret it to mean something it doesn't. I know you want to help her understand the military, son, and that's admirable, but I think there are some things that are probably best left to me."
Lee frowned. "Are you telling me to stop being her advisor?"
Bill sighed. "I'm telling you to be careful."
If you only knew, Lee thought. "I appreciate that, Dad."
"I'm not sure you do, son."
"Excuse me?" Lee turned to look him in the eye.
"You spent nearly the whole evening dancing with her. You have to realize how that looks. I can understand if you're attracted to her, but you have to see how you're acting."
Lee gaped at him. "I can't believe this."
"Honestly, I can't either." His father stood, leaving Lee with the newssheet. "I would have thought I'd raised my son better than to make a fool of himself like this."
Lee had held his tongue until now, since he didn't really have a leg to stand on-his father hadn't reached the conclusion that Lee and Laura actually were in a relationship and he wasn't going to do anything to lead him there. But this was perhaps worse-he thought Lee had some kind of pathetic crush.
"Maybe you would have," he spat, "if you'd actually raised me."
"This isn't the time to discuss that."
"Then when is?" Lee threw his arms out to the side. "You have to face that you weren't there. As much as you wish you had been, you weren't there. You never taught me the things you think I should know. Where do you think I learned protocol? Where do you think I learned to box? Certainly not from you."
His father blinked quickly at him, clearly stunned.
"I think you'd better cool down," he finally said. "And you're not to advise Roslin anymore. That's an order, Captain."
Lee couldn't say anything. He simply saluted. "Yes, sir."
**
Lee had sounded flustered on the phone, so when he walked into Laura's office on Colonial One, she met him with a hug.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
He gave a dark laugh. "Not exactly."
Her eyes went wide. "Oh, no. What's wrong?"
"You're not going to like it." Lee sat down heavily. "My father ordered me to stop being your advisor." He held up his hand when she opened her mouth. "No, he doesn't know about that. There are rumors, and he thinks they're just rumors. Apparently, dancing with you was unprofessional."
Laura bit her lip. She felt responsible for this. She should have urged him away after a couple of dances, but it was her own desire to be near him in their chance at a public setting that had gotten in the way of her knowledge of what was the right thing to do. She hadn't said anything to Lee, had just let him enjoy his moment of being with her but now she was regretting that.
"It's an order?"
"He said it was." Lee sighed. "See, this is why I can't get along with him. He can never make it just about us-it's always about Commander Adama and his CAG. It's not about William Adama and his son."
Laura crossed her arms over her chest. "He may be your commander, but I am your commander-in-chief. Surely that counts for something?" Ironically, this was exactly the sort of thing she needed advice on-it was a good thing her advisor was her.
He ran his hand through his hair. "Well. Maybe. I can definitely assure you that there is no precedent for anything like this."
Laura laughed. "You're probably right." She sighed. "I'll speak to him. I'll tell him how important it is that I have you on my staff."
"Thank you." He leaned in to kiss her.
"I think that's enough for now," she said, though she savored the one kiss she allowed them. I have to get to Galactica; I have an appointment with Doctor Cottle."
Lee grasped her hand. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I don't think that's wise just now." She kissed him quickly. "But I promise I'll speak to your father. If it's just the advisor position he's concerned about…"
"Yes, I think so."
"Then maybe I'll be able to make him see reason."
Lee snorted. "I'm not sure I'd count on that."
She laughed. "You'd be surprised. He's been much more agreeable lately."
**
After a shower and a shift in CIC, Bill was prepared to meet with Roslin.
The planet had complicated things, though.
For one thing, it meant Lee was there with her, looking at the maps. He watched them out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't notice anything to arouse his suspicions.
He wanted to get Roslin alone, though he wasn't sure this was the right time to have this conversation.
"Commander," Roslin said, once Bill had dispatched Lee and Saul to put together the survey teams. "I was hoping we would get a chance to talk."
He began gathering up his papers. "If this is about Captain Adama, I think that can wait until after the survey teams return from Kobol."
"Well, as it happens, that was exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
Bill took his glasses off. "With all due respect, Madam President, that's my CAG you're talking about. He's an officer under my command and his primary responsibility is to that position. I've allowed him to advise you in a secondary capacity and if I find that it's getting in the way of his primary duties, I'm well within my rights to order him to stop."
Roslin considered this for a beat. "Commander, I know you two have a contentious relationship-"
"That doesn't factor into this. Our personal relationship and our professional relationship is entirely separate."
"Maybe that's the problem."
He raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"He is your son, Commander."
"I'm aware of that," Bill said sharply. "And I hardly think this is all that you wanted to discuss with me."
"No," she said, "as a matter of fact, I wanted to impress upon you the importance of the Arrow of Apollo. If the scripture is true, it may be the key to finding Earth."
She had lost him with the first part of the conversation, but she had really lost him bringing up scripture.
"Absolutely not. I can't spare the resources to return to enemy-occupied territory in search of a... religious relic."
"We won't be searching for it; we know exactly where it is."
Bill sighed. Years of friendship with Saul had taught him how carefully to tread the line between rationality and stepping on someone's religious beliefs and it was a struggle now. He wished his friend were here.
"The risk is still too high," he said finally. "Especially for-" He stopped.
"Especially for?"
He sighed. "I'm sorry. But I think we both have to agree here that our first priority is to survey the planet and investigate the possibility of settling."
She gave him a thin smile and nodded. "You're absolutely right, Commander. I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I was out of line." She offered him her hand and they shook. "Good luck, Commander."
He smiled. "Thank you, Madam President."
**
She found Lee a few hours later in a corridor outside the pilots' ready room. She felt somewhat guilty approaching him when he was so busy-two of the survey Raptors had been lost and she knew he needed to concentrate on his duties as CAG, but she desperately needed his help.
"Captain Apollo."
He stopped and turned. "Madam President?"
"Where are you headed?"
"I'm about to brief Starbuck on her mission." He paused, looking like he didn't want to tell her. "My father has agreed that the Raider will be used to get a nuke onto the Cylon baseship so we can rescue our people."
Laura froze. He wouldn't… "So we're going to lose it just like that?"
"That's how it looks."
She mulled this over. This was so incredibly important and she needed to make sure every word, every action was chosen carefully. "Your father doesn't agree with me that the Arrow's important."
Lee nodded. "I didn't think he would."
Laura paused, making eye contact with him. They were alone in the corridor for a moment and she was going to take the risk. She was dying of cancer-and it was advancing, according to Cottle that morning-and she potentially held the fate of humanity in her hands. This was their only chance to find Earth. She had to lead her people to a home. Lee could make his choice. She certainly wouldn't blame him if he was unable or unwilling to help her, but she needed to know now, because she needed to act quickly.
"Lee," she said quietly, "I know he's your father, and I don't expect you to believe in the scriptures, but I truly believe that the Arrow of Apollo is necessary for us to find Earth. Whether or not you believe that, I want to impress upon you how important, I believe it to be, because I want you to understand what I'm about to do."
"I know," he said. "I believe it's important, too. If you say it's important, there's no doubt in my mind that it's important."
"Will you help me?"
Lee nodded. "Always, Madam President."
The look in his eyes was so sincere, Laura had to blink back tears. She was so lucky to have this man at her side, as advisor or lover. "Then we have work to do."
**
"I thought you were just getting attached to that thing. Going to get rid of it so soon?"
Kara didn't look up from fooling with the Raider. "That's what your dad and Tigh say. It's the only way to do it. And he trusts me, so. It's me that's going." She patted the outside of the Raider.
Lee smirked. "Seems kind of pointless, though. I mean, you have this piece of Cylon technology… you could go anywhere and blend right in with the Cylons…"
She stood up, wiping her hands on her jumpsuit. "What are you getting at, Lee?"
He shrugged. "Just seems like a waste."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Get yourself cleaned up," he said. "The President wants to talk to you."
**
"This whole thing is driving me nuts," Bill said, collapsing onto the couch.
"I thought you said Roslin was getting better."
"She was. Then she started in on this crap about Earth." He glanced at Saul. "Sorry."
Saul shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
"Sit down," Bill said. "I want to ask you something."
Saul did as he was told.
"Where's she coming from? From a religious perspective?"
Saul sighed. "Do you really want me to go into this?"
"I'll be nice. I promise." Bill slid closer and patted Saul's shoulder, indicating he should relax. "I'm interested. Educate me."
"Okay." Saul leaned back in the couch. "Well, you know I'm from Aerilon, right? Southern continent, though, so I grew up following Ares. Absolutely to the letter-my dad, he was in the Sons of Ares. Real hardliner."
"But you're not that way?"
"Oh, no." Saul smirked. "Rejected all that as soon as I got out of the house. Still keep Ares as a patron but not that extreme. There's no such thing as prophecy, Bill. Pythia wrote history, nothing more."
"So no Arrow?"
"No Arrow. Certainly no sense going back into radioactive enemy territory chasing after it."
Bill gave Saul's shoulder a hearty pat. "Glad we're on the same page." He checked his watch. "We should be heading for CIC."
"Hey." Saul touched Bill's shoulder as he made his way to the hatch. "Thanks. For listening."
Bill smiled. "Of course I'd listen." He was pleased that Saul had noticed the effort he'd made.
Saul shook his head and pulled Bill into a kiss.
**
Lee paused in front of his father's quarters. He knew what he was about to do was big - mutiny, potentially - but he had to go through with it. He trusted Laura implicitly. If she said the Arrow would lead them to Earth, then he'd do everything in his power to get her that arrow.
But maybe he'd have another little talk with his father first. If he could make him see their side, that she knew what she was talking about...
He opened the hatch and stepped inside, shutting it behind him.
What he saw made him freeze.
His father was standing in the middle of the room, his arms wrapped around Saul Tigh's neck as they kissed.
"What the frak are you doing?" he snapped.
They sprang apart, eyes wide.
"You hypocrite," Lee said in a low voice. "After everything you said to me about Laura, you and him?"
His father stared at him. "Lee, I -"
"You can explain?" It did all make sense in a sick kind of way and as Lee ran through it, it all fell into place. "Oh my gods. Mom. You left Mom for him. You made him your XO even though he's a drunk who couldn't lead a kitchen crew. I always wondered why you kept him around but now I see."
Tigh looked pale and Lee's father looked angrier than he'd ever seen him.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he said coldly.
"Oh? But you knew exactly what to say to me about Laura."
Bill flinched. "So you're admitting it?"
"Yes, I'm admitting it. Nowhere in the Fleet Code of Conduct does it say I can't have a relationship with a civilian, but last time I checked, yours violated several articles."
"Last time I checked, she was old enough to be your mother," Bill spat.
"That's your problem with it?"
"It's one of them. That she's taking advantage of her position-"
"And you aren't?"
"Will both of you just shut the frak up?"
Bill and Lee both spun to look at Tigh. Lee had forgotten he was even there.
"We've got work to do," he said sternly, scowling at both of them. "Let's do it. We can yak about this all we want later. We got men down on Kobol waiting for us."
"He's right," Bill said, looking like he'd come back into himself. "We'll talk about this later, son. We have work to do now."
Lee gave him a long, hard look. So that was how he was going to do this. "Yes, sir." He saluted smartly. If he hadn't already been firm in his decision, he was now.
**
"Sorry about that, Bill."
Bill nodded absently as the Marine opened the hatch and they stepped into CIC. "Yeah. It'll be okay."
Saul frowned. He hoped that didn't mean they were finished, just because Lee had walked in on them. Not like he could outright ask in CIC.
Bill must have read his mind because he looked at Saul over the console. "We're fine." He reached for a pen and made a notation on the console. "I mean that."
Saul nodded, his tension relived some. He was trying to think of what else to say when Dee announced that Starbuck wanted to speak with Bill.
Saul was only half listening to their conversation. Couldn't she move it along some? They had people down there who were waiting for rescue, for frak's sake! Whatever she was saying was making Bill frown even more, which was annoying Saul, too. Didn't she know he had a lot on his plate?
"Sir," Gaeta announced, "she's spinning up the FTL drive."
Bill sounded angry. He was talking in a low, tense voice, but Saul couldn't make out what he was saying.
"What the hell is she doing?" Saul snapped. He grabbed the other handset. "Apollo, Galactica. What is she doing?"
No response.
"Godsdammit, Apollo, come in."
"Sir, Starbuck just jumped away," Gaeta reported.
"Jumped away?" Saul looked at Bill. "Where to? This was supposed to be an autopilot test."
Bill opened his mouth to reply, but Dee cut him off.
"Commander? Apollo is… he's breaking out of CAP formation."
"Well, where's headed?" Saul asked.
Bill's face was unreadable.
Dee cleared her throat. "Colonial One, sir. Apollo is headed for Colonial One."
Next Chapter
Author: The Plaid Slytherin (plaid_slytherin)
Characters/Pairings: Bill/Saul, Laura/Lee
Rating (this chapter): T
Summary: As Lee begins to explore his new relationship with Laura, Bill starts to realize his feelings for Saul may go deeper than mere friendship. Two relationships develop in parallel, with ramifications not only for each other, but for the entire fleet.
A/N: Written for deborah_judge for the help_japan auction, who wanted Bill/Saul and Laura/Lee in the same fic. This is an AU spanning the entire series, beginning, of course, at the beginning. Thanks to astreamofstars for betaing and much input. This chapter begins the Kobol arc!
Previously: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten
As Boomer flew Bill back to Galactica, he tried to calm himself. He didn't want to go in there and start yelling at his son. It was good that they'd already planned to work out together and Bill was pleased to see Lee want to put the gloves on again. He'd thought Lee had stopped being interested in boxing when he'd cut Bill out of his life. He had no idea he'd kept it up, and kept it up well. If Bill wanted to keep his relationship with his son, he would have to approach this issue carefully.
After all, he didn't even think the newssheet was telling the truth. Lee could never be so stupid as to actually be sleeping with the President of the Twelve Colonies. He just needed to be warned how his role as her advisor could look to the press. Bill had been dealing with the press criticizing his decisions his whole command career. After Valkyrie had been a nightmare and he knew Lee had gotten some flak for that just for being Bill's son. He would just remind him of things like that.
Heck, it wasn't like he wanted to make him stop being Roslin's advisor, though that didn't exactly make Bill's life easy.
As he headed for the gym, he was mentally planning out what he wanted to say. Lee would have to see reason.
**
His father would kill him.
You didn't stand Bill Adama up, especially not first thing in the morning, especially not for a workout. At least there was no way for Bill to find out Lee had spent the night on Cloud Nine with Laura. He'd thought he would be able to get back to Galactica in time, but there hadn't been any transport.
"Sorry I'm late," he said as he entered the gym.
His father had already started working with a punching bag. He did not pause when Lee entered. "You still want to do this?" He threw another series of punches at the bag.
"Yeah." Lee tried to be quick about changing, but he was still feeling off and that, he decided, was where it had all started going wrong. Not that he'd really expected to win sparring with the old man, but he'd thought he could do better than this.
He really couldn't lose his edge over Laura, nor could he let his father intimidate him. Maybe that was the problem-he never could stand up to the Commander.
Lee staggered as he took another punch.
"Wake up, son." Bill pulled his mouth guard back in and fell into another stance. Lee matched him, determined to pull one over his father. He tried to remember what he'd learned at officer candidate school, how to block, how to deceive your opponent, but none of these strategies worked on his father.
"Your head's somewhere else," Bill said, helping him up once he'd knocked him to the floor. "Want to talk about it?"
Lee hesitated, as he toweled off. He couldn't tell his father what was on his mind, that he couldn't stop thinking about Laura, that he'd never felt this way about anyone before. Part of him wished he could go to his father for advice, could trust him to take it the right way and, well, act like a father, but he didn't think he could just yet.
Lee shrugged.
Bill sat down on the bench and indicated Lee should sit beside him. "Well, there's something I want to talk about." He bent to pick up his uniform pants and pulled something out of the pocket.
It was a folded newssheet.
Lee's heart sank as he read the headline.
"This is just gossip, Dad."
"I know," his father said coolly. "But just because it's newssheet gossip doesn't mean people aren't going to take it the wrong way, interpret it to mean something it doesn't. I know you want to help her understand the military, son, and that's admirable, but I think there are some things that are probably best left to me."
Lee frowned. "Are you telling me to stop being her advisor?"
Bill sighed. "I'm telling you to be careful."
If you only knew, Lee thought. "I appreciate that, Dad."
"I'm not sure you do, son."
"Excuse me?" Lee turned to look him in the eye.
"You spent nearly the whole evening dancing with her. You have to realize how that looks. I can understand if you're attracted to her, but you have to see how you're acting."
Lee gaped at him. "I can't believe this."
"Honestly, I can't either." His father stood, leaving Lee with the newssheet. "I would have thought I'd raised my son better than to make a fool of himself like this."
Lee had held his tongue until now, since he didn't really have a leg to stand on-his father hadn't reached the conclusion that Lee and Laura actually were in a relationship and he wasn't going to do anything to lead him there. But this was perhaps worse-he thought Lee had some kind of pathetic crush.
"Maybe you would have," he spat, "if you'd actually raised me."
"This isn't the time to discuss that."
"Then when is?" Lee threw his arms out to the side. "You have to face that you weren't there. As much as you wish you had been, you weren't there. You never taught me the things you think I should know. Where do you think I learned protocol? Where do you think I learned to box? Certainly not from you."
His father blinked quickly at him, clearly stunned.
"I think you'd better cool down," he finally said. "And you're not to advise Roslin anymore. That's an order, Captain."
Lee couldn't say anything. He simply saluted. "Yes, sir."
**
Lee had sounded flustered on the phone, so when he walked into Laura's office on Colonial One, she met him with a hug.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
He gave a dark laugh. "Not exactly."
Her eyes went wide. "Oh, no. What's wrong?"
"You're not going to like it." Lee sat down heavily. "My father ordered me to stop being your advisor." He held up his hand when she opened her mouth. "No, he doesn't know about that. There are rumors, and he thinks they're just rumors. Apparently, dancing with you was unprofessional."
Laura bit her lip. She felt responsible for this. She should have urged him away after a couple of dances, but it was her own desire to be near him in their chance at a public setting that had gotten in the way of her knowledge of what was the right thing to do. She hadn't said anything to Lee, had just let him enjoy his moment of being with her but now she was regretting that.
"It's an order?"
"He said it was." Lee sighed. "See, this is why I can't get along with him. He can never make it just about us-it's always about Commander Adama and his CAG. It's not about William Adama and his son."
Laura crossed her arms over her chest. "He may be your commander, but I am your commander-in-chief. Surely that counts for something?" Ironically, this was exactly the sort of thing she needed advice on-it was a good thing her advisor was her.
He ran his hand through his hair. "Well. Maybe. I can definitely assure you that there is no precedent for anything like this."
Laura laughed. "You're probably right." She sighed. "I'll speak to him. I'll tell him how important it is that I have you on my staff."
"Thank you." He leaned in to kiss her.
"I think that's enough for now," she said, though she savored the one kiss she allowed them. I have to get to Galactica; I have an appointment with Doctor Cottle."
Lee grasped her hand. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I don't think that's wise just now." She kissed him quickly. "But I promise I'll speak to your father. If it's just the advisor position he's concerned about…"
"Yes, I think so."
"Then maybe I'll be able to make him see reason."
Lee snorted. "I'm not sure I'd count on that."
She laughed. "You'd be surprised. He's been much more agreeable lately."
**
After a shower and a shift in CIC, Bill was prepared to meet with Roslin.
The planet had complicated things, though.
For one thing, it meant Lee was there with her, looking at the maps. He watched them out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't notice anything to arouse his suspicions.
He wanted to get Roslin alone, though he wasn't sure this was the right time to have this conversation.
"Commander," Roslin said, once Bill had dispatched Lee and Saul to put together the survey teams. "I was hoping we would get a chance to talk."
He began gathering up his papers. "If this is about Captain Adama, I think that can wait until after the survey teams return from Kobol."
"Well, as it happens, that was exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
Bill took his glasses off. "With all due respect, Madam President, that's my CAG you're talking about. He's an officer under my command and his primary responsibility is to that position. I've allowed him to advise you in a secondary capacity and if I find that it's getting in the way of his primary duties, I'm well within my rights to order him to stop."
Roslin considered this for a beat. "Commander, I know you two have a contentious relationship-"
"That doesn't factor into this. Our personal relationship and our professional relationship is entirely separate."
"Maybe that's the problem."
He raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"He is your son, Commander."
"I'm aware of that," Bill said sharply. "And I hardly think this is all that you wanted to discuss with me."
"No," she said, "as a matter of fact, I wanted to impress upon you the importance of the Arrow of Apollo. If the scripture is true, it may be the key to finding Earth."
She had lost him with the first part of the conversation, but she had really lost him bringing up scripture.
"Absolutely not. I can't spare the resources to return to enemy-occupied territory in search of a... religious relic."
"We won't be searching for it; we know exactly where it is."
Bill sighed. Years of friendship with Saul had taught him how carefully to tread the line between rationality and stepping on someone's religious beliefs and it was a struggle now. He wished his friend were here.
"The risk is still too high," he said finally. "Especially for-" He stopped.
"Especially for?"
He sighed. "I'm sorry. But I think we both have to agree here that our first priority is to survey the planet and investigate the possibility of settling."
She gave him a thin smile and nodded. "You're absolutely right, Commander. I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I was out of line." She offered him her hand and they shook. "Good luck, Commander."
He smiled. "Thank you, Madam President."
**
She found Lee a few hours later in a corridor outside the pilots' ready room. She felt somewhat guilty approaching him when he was so busy-two of the survey Raptors had been lost and she knew he needed to concentrate on his duties as CAG, but she desperately needed his help.
"Captain Apollo."
He stopped and turned. "Madam President?"
"Where are you headed?"
"I'm about to brief Starbuck on her mission." He paused, looking like he didn't want to tell her. "My father has agreed that the Raider will be used to get a nuke onto the Cylon baseship so we can rescue our people."
Laura froze. He wouldn't… "So we're going to lose it just like that?"
"That's how it looks."
She mulled this over. This was so incredibly important and she needed to make sure every word, every action was chosen carefully. "Your father doesn't agree with me that the Arrow's important."
Lee nodded. "I didn't think he would."
Laura paused, making eye contact with him. They were alone in the corridor for a moment and she was going to take the risk. She was dying of cancer-and it was advancing, according to Cottle that morning-and she potentially held the fate of humanity in her hands. This was their only chance to find Earth. She had to lead her people to a home. Lee could make his choice. She certainly wouldn't blame him if he was unable or unwilling to help her, but she needed to know now, because she needed to act quickly.
"Lee," she said quietly, "I know he's your father, and I don't expect you to believe in the scriptures, but I truly believe that the Arrow of Apollo is necessary for us to find Earth. Whether or not you believe that, I want to impress upon you how important, I believe it to be, because I want you to understand what I'm about to do."
"I know," he said. "I believe it's important, too. If you say it's important, there's no doubt in my mind that it's important."
"Will you help me?"
Lee nodded. "Always, Madam President."
The look in his eyes was so sincere, Laura had to blink back tears. She was so lucky to have this man at her side, as advisor or lover. "Then we have work to do."
**
"I thought you were just getting attached to that thing. Going to get rid of it so soon?"
Kara didn't look up from fooling with the Raider. "That's what your dad and Tigh say. It's the only way to do it. And he trusts me, so. It's me that's going." She patted the outside of the Raider.
Lee smirked. "Seems kind of pointless, though. I mean, you have this piece of Cylon technology… you could go anywhere and blend right in with the Cylons…"
She stood up, wiping her hands on her jumpsuit. "What are you getting at, Lee?"
He shrugged. "Just seems like a waste."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Get yourself cleaned up," he said. "The President wants to talk to you."
**
"This whole thing is driving me nuts," Bill said, collapsing onto the couch.
"I thought you said Roslin was getting better."
"She was. Then she started in on this crap about Earth." He glanced at Saul. "Sorry."
Saul shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
"Sit down," Bill said. "I want to ask you something."
Saul did as he was told.
"Where's she coming from? From a religious perspective?"
Saul sighed. "Do you really want me to go into this?"
"I'll be nice. I promise." Bill slid closer and patted Saul's shoulder, indicating he should relax. "I'm interested. Educate me."
"Okay." Saul leaned back in the couch. "Well, you know I'm from Aerilon, right? Southern continent, though, so I grew up following Ares. Absolutely to the letter-my dad, he was in the Sons of Ares. Real hardliner."
"But you're not that way?"
"Oh, no." Saul smirked. "Rejected all that as soon as I got out of the house. Still keep Ares as a patron but not that extreme. There's no such thing as prophecy, Bill. Pythia wrote history, nothing more."
"So no Arrow?"
"No Arrow. Certainly no sense going back into radioactive enemy territory chasing after it."
Bill gave Saul's shoulder a hearty pat. "Glad we're on the same page." He checked his watch. "We should be heading for CIC."
"Hey." Saul touched Bill's shoulder as he made his way to the hatch. "Thanks. For listening."
Bill smiled. "Of course I'd listen." He was pleased that Saul had noticed the effort he'd made.
Saul shook his head and pulled Bill into a kiss.
**
Lee paused in front of his father's quarters. He knew what he was about to do was big - mutiny, potentially - but he had to go through with it. He trusted Laura implicitly. If she said the Arrow would lead them to Earth, then he'd do everything in his power to get her that arrow.
But maybe he'd have another little talk with his father first. If he could make him see their side, that she knew what she was talking about...
He opened the hatch and stepped inside, shutting it behind him.
What he saw made him freeze.
His father was standing in the middle of the room, his arms wrapped around Saul Tigh's neck as they kissed.
"What the frak are you doing?" he snapped.
They sprang apart, eyes wide.
"You hypocrite," Lee said in a low voice. "After everything you said to me about Laura, you and him?"
His father stared at him. "Lee, I -"
"You can explain?" It did all make sense in a sick kind of way and as Lee ran through it, it all fell into place. "Oh my gods. Mom. You left Mom for him. You made him your XO even though he's a drunk who couldn't lead a kitchen crew. I always wondered why you kept him around but now I see."
Tigh looked pale and Lee's father looked angrier than he'd ever seen him.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he said coldly.
"Oh? But you knew exactly what to say to me about Laura."
Bill flinched. "So you're admitting it?"
"Yes, I'm admitting it. Nowhere in the Fleet Code of Conduct does it say I can't have a relationship with a civilian, but last time I checked, yours violated several articles."
"Last time I checked, she was old enough to be your mother," Bill spat.
"That's your problem with it?"
"It's one of them. That she's taking advantage of her position-"
"And you aren't?"
"Will both of you just shut the frak up?"
Bill and Lee both spun to look at Tigh. Lee had forgotten he was even there.
"We've got work to do," he said sternly, scowling at both of them. "Let's do it. We can yak about this all we want later. We got men down on Kobol waiting for us."
"He's right," Bill said, looking like he'd come back into himself. "We'll talk about this later, son. We have work to do now."
Lee gave him a long, hard look. So that was how he was going to do this. "Yes, sir." He saluted smartly. If he hadn't already been firm in his decision, he was now.
**
"Sorry about that, Bill."
Bill nodded absently as the Marine opened the hatch and they stepped into CIC. "Yeah. It'll be okay."
Saul frowned. He hoped that didn't mean they were finished, just because Lee had walked in on them. Not like he could outright ask in CIC.
Bill must have read his mind because he looked at Saul over the console. "We're fine." He reached for a pen and made a notation on the console. "I mean that."
Saul nodded, his tension relived some. He was trying to think of what else to say when Dee announced that Starbuck wanted to speak with Bill.
Saul was only half listening to their conversation. Couldn't she move it along some? They had people down there who were waiting for rescue, for frak's sake! Whatever she was saying was making Bill frown even more, which was annoying Saul, too. Didn't she know he had a lot on his plate?
"Sir," Gaeta announced, "she's spinning up the FTL drive."
Bill sounded angry. He was talking in a low, tense voice, but Saul couldn't make out what he was saying.
"What the hell is she doing?" Saul snapped. He grabbed the other handset. "Apollo, Galactica. What is she doing?"
No response.
"Godsdammit, Apollo, come in."
"Sir, Starbuck just jumped away," Gaeta reported.
"Jumped away?" Saul looked at Bill. "Where to? This was supposed to be an autopilot test."
Bill opened his mouth to reply, but Dee cut him off.
"Commander? Apollo is… he's breaking out of CAP formation."
"Well, where's headed?" Saul asked.
Bill's face was unreadable.
Dee cleared her throat. "Colonial One, sir. Apollo is headed for Colonial One."
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