Battlestar Galactica - Evolution & Assimilation Ch11
Title: Evolution & Assimilation Ch11
Character/s: Caprica Six, Laura Roslin
Rating: M
Chapter Summary: Alternate Universe. After Bill's arrival on the Cylon Basestar both he and Laura have some things they need to discuss. Neither of them could have imagined how much their lives could change in two days.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN: DEALING THE DECK
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Books seemed to have a way of shaping her life and relationships. The thought struck her as her fingers caressed the scalded cover of her precious Searider Falcon. From the odd assortment of classics she would coax her father into reading to her, through the many books she studied and taught in her career, and then into her relationship with Bill. Even her vague adolescence seemed to have a book to go with it. That book in particular was plaguing her as she waited for Bill on the wing of his Raptor. Her mind flicked through possible ways of explaining what it held. It wasn’t like it came with a synopsis - there was no pre-written summary available for her to read from. The whole thing was a nightmare.
Laura kicked her legs idly back and forward as she tried to think. All she had to do, to begin with, was tell him the basics. Make it seem simple. Though there was nothing simple about her situation. She was fairly certain that when most people said ‘I love you’ for the first time they didn’t follow it through with ‘by the way my daughter’s a Cylon’. There was no book that could help her through the talk she was preparing to have. Even if she could just walk to a library the odds on there being something titled ‘Cylon Parenting for Dummies’ were beyond slim.
There was another problem with talking about the Journal and that was the few photos she had agreed not to mention. The woman depicted in those photos caused more trouble dead than she ever did when she was alive. One of the Final Five graced a number of photos, filling the position of mother in every shot. If it wasn’t Ellen Tigh then the young blonde had to be her doppelganger. The problem with having that knowledge was the chaos it would cause if she told anyone. Both Leoben and Kate had warned her not to use the knowledge against D’Anna. To do so would also mean having to divulge how they knew. Essentially they would be giving D’Anna the opportunity to destroy what was left of the Colonial Fleet. While knowing the name and whereabouts of one of the Five was definitely in their favour, having D’Anna tell the remaining humans that their President gave birth to a Cylon would cause all hell to break loose. No doubt she would spin it just the way she wanted to turn them all against their leader. It would work so easily after Laura had put so much effort into getting the Quorum to listen to Natalie. Word would spread like wildfire that she had been in league with the Cylons all along, possibly even contacting them so they knew where the Fleet was jumping to.
Worse still she couldn’t possibly tell Bill. Not only was Tigh his XO he was also his best friend, his brother, he would be obliged to tell him. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how Tigh would take the news that his wife was a Cylon. He had already fallen so hard upon his return from New Caprica, they all had, and she just couldn’t do that to him. No. The truth about Ellen had to remain a secret. It was in everyone’s best interest.
“Laura...”
Looking up to find Bill walking towards her, she smiled to try and convince him nothing was wrong. “Don’t worry,” She said as she held their book up. “I haven’t read ahead.”
“Neither have I,” He responded with a chuckle as he came to a stop in front of her. With his hand brushing against her knee he leaned down and gently kissed her lips. Though such a small action, much like the first time he’d tried it, it conveyed so much emotion. “Something’s bothering you, what is it?” His gruff voice was quiet as he searched her eyes, waiting for her to let him in. It took time but they’d made a lot of progress over the years.
“I’ve discovered a few things since I’ve been here,” She told him honestly, finding that the best way to tell him was to simply explain everything from the beginning. “Things about those six years I thought I knew. It turns out those memories of Allison, and the building we lived in, were all fabricated. I was one of the missing children taken by the Cylons. They erased all memories of those six years with them and fed me stories to tell my parents and keep the authorities happy. It’s no wonder I had such vivid nightmares, they were just the old memories trying to break through.” She paused then, realising she should probably give him a chance to process what she was saying. It was a lot to take in and there was a lot more to come. She only hoped he could handle it, the last thing she wanted was for her past to push him away. Not when she’d finally stopped doing so herself.
Bill slowly moved to sit beside her, taking her hand in his as he thought it all through. Nothing good ever came from delving into the history of the Cylons. His own memory replayed the images of imprisoned people through a gap in the door, some screaming for help and others yelling at him to escape while he still could. The thought that Laura may have been one of them sickened him. “I saw things during the War Laura - things the Cylons did,” He said slowly, not wanting what he was about to say to be interpreted the wrong way. “But they let you go?”
She bit her lip as she looked at him, wondering what he was thinking. Her main concern being that he thought she was one of them. It made sense that they would let her go if she was, maybe, one of the Final Five. “They couldn’t kill me like they had so many other girls,” She explained. “I was a valuable asset but also a liability. I’d been trying to escape, the second time I tried it they chose to wipe my memories and send me home...”
“A valuable asset?” Bill cut in, puzzled by her comment. “I don’t understand, Laura.”
“Even back then they were trying to create Hybrids, like Hera, a perfect combination of Cylon and Human,” Laura closed her eyes, letting her head drop as she thought about what she’d read and what she’d been told. A fresh wave of nausea flipped her stomach as the Basestar jumped and she felt his hand tighten around hers. She recalled the report Kara had handed in about her time on Caprica, briefly wondering what would have happened to the young pilot had the Final Five been operating that particular experiment. “From the group of girls they had accumulated they narrowed it down to a select eight that were young, healthy, and fertile. Using cells from the girls and Cylon cells, all eight subjects were pregnant within the first few weeks of the study. They were aiming to create eight perfect Hybrids but then it all went downhill. Seven of the eight embryos didn’t even make it into the second month. Only one was successful.”
“I thought they hadn’t perfected a Hybrid that’s why Hera’s important,” He pointed out, intrigued by her story.
“There was only one perfect Hybrid and she doesn’t even know she’s the one,” She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “The Sixth subject gave birth to a healthy baby girl who she named Lucy. The reason I was valuable to them was because I was that subject, the only one that successfully bore them a Hybrid. I don’t know what happened, but she knew she was a Hybrid when I left. Whatever they’ve done to her it’s left her more childlike now than she was back then.”
“Lucy... she’s the Six in the Brig isn’t she?” Bill asked slowly as he pieced it together. Gently he touched her chip, tipping her face up to look at him. “That’s why she’s experiencing night terrors?”
Laura’s eyes locked with his and she nodded, already having realised the truth of the matter. “I’ve spoken to another Six, and Leoben, it seems that her night terrors and migraines are likely from memories resurfacing after being buried for so many years,” She closed her eyes again and looked away.
Unable to let her push him away again, Bill put his arm around her and pulled her against him. “Are you okay?” He asked her quietly as she collapsed into his embrace. At that point he wasn’t entirely sure of his thoughts in regards to what she was saying. The only thing he was focused on was her. His main concern was being there for her, giving her the comfort and support she needed to deal with what was happening in her life.
“I’m a mother,” She almost whispered, her head nestled against his shoulder. “I’ve been a mother for almost forty years and I wasn’t aware of it. How do you even begin to react to that? I don’t know how this makes me feel, I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel... no, I know how I feel. I’m angry that they used me like that and then made me forget it. I’m upset that no matter how hard I try I can barely remember anything about my daughter...” Pushing away from him, she stood up and walked a few paces with her arms crossed tightly against her stomach. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes. For the first time since she’d spoken to Kate she was letting her emotions break the surface and it felt so good. “Gods Bill, they used my daughter to destroy the Colonies. Tell me how I’m supposed to react to that? Do I just ignore the fact that she’s a Cylon or that she’s my daughter? The Quorum is going to flip, if this gets out to the Fleet...”
“Laura stop!” Bill growled firmly as he stood quickly and moved to place his hands firmly on her shoulders. “One thing I love about you, and will always love about you, is that you put others before yourself. But Laura right now, at this point in your life, you need to be less concerned with how this will effect others and more focused on what you want. Forget about what people will think, forget about who’s on which side, and tell me without another thought how you feel knowing you have a daughter?”
“Alive,” She said before she could stop herself and quickly moved her hand to cover her mouth. It wasn’t until that moment of him forcing her to react that she realised that was how to describe what she was feeling. “For the first time in months there’s no pain, there’s no death, there’s no darkness... it’s something else entirely grounding me and I just feel alive, Bill. I have a family.” Then for the first time since she’d told him she loved him, she grinned. A small laugh bubbled up from the back of her throat as she wiped away her tears.
The last thing Bill had expected when he told her to stop was that she would start laughing, but he wasn’t about to complain. “What’s so funny?” He asked her with a small frown, as his hands slid down her arms until they found a place to rest on her hips.
She shook her head slightly as her laughter continued. “I may have told Captain Agathon to remember he’s not married to the entire production line,” The look on his face had been priceless. If she’d only known then how that particular comment was going to turn around and bite her on the ass. “I suppose I’ll have to keep in mind I didn’t give birth to the entire Six line.”
“I’m pretty sure you would have remembered if you had,” Bill pointed out with a smile, earning him a playful smack against his chest.
“It shouldn’t be that hard,” She said more seriously as she thought about it. “The Six I’ve spoken to, Kate, refers to me as ‘mother of the original’. It’s almost sad to see such a vibrant and individual personality consider herself to be simply a copy of another. But at the same time she doesn’t consider the copies to be my children, my daughter is just the one consciousness that they know as Caprica Six.”
At the mention of the Cylon in Galactica’s brig again, Bill let out a heavy sigh and looked away for a moment. There was one thing she really needed to know given her new found status as Caprica’s mother. He was only grateful that Tigh was far away on another ship for the time being. If his reaction to his best friend frakking a Cylon prisoner was bad, he had every reason to be worried about telling her that his XO knocked up her daughter. “There’s something you need to know about Caprica Six that you may not like,” He began cautiously.
Taking a step back, Laura frowned. She remembered the report about the imprisoned Six on Pegasus and what had almost happened to Athena. Her primary concern when they had placed Caprica in her holding cell was that history would repeat itself. “What happened?” She asked him quietly, fearing his answer.
“She experienced another seizure moments after the Basestar jumped away,” He began to explain to her, leading her back to sit on the wing of the Raptor. Waiting until she’d obliged him and taken a seat, he continued. “Cottle ran more tests that gave him results he wasn’t expecting. It seems that Caprica is pregnant.”
The colour drained from Laura’s face in an instant. It was one thing to find out she was a mother, but another thing entirely to learn that her daughter was going to have a baby. Essentially it meant that she was going to be a grandmother. Which was ridiculous in itself really because Grandmothers were old - really old - and she... was not entirely... “Oh Gods,” She breathed out. The fact that she was pregnant wasn’t even the worst of it. “I thought we agreed she would be heavily guarded at all times. How could this happen?”
“It wasn’t rape Laura,” He told her quickly, realising the conclusion she’d jumped to.
“Well I don’t recall signing off on any conjugal visits...”
“It was Saul, Laura,” Bill explained.
Silence descended on them like a winter’s night. Laura’s eyes darkened as she looked at him, hands gripping the edge of the Raptor tightly. “Are you telling me...” Her voice was low and deadly, sending a chill down his spine. “That your Executive Officer engaged in a consensual sexual act with my... a prisoner who was supposed to be under a twenty-four hour guard?” She raised her eyebrow as she waited for him to respond. Her brain kicked into overdrive as she worked on finding ways of ensuring Colonel Tigh was properly disciplined for his lapse in judgement.
“It’s not unusual for guards to be ordered to leave during an interrogation, particularly when it involves a Senior Officer,” He pointed out to her calmly, though he knew she was already painfully aware of that fact. “Those who knew he was going down there were under the impression he was interrogating an enemy agent, there was no reason to believe otherwise. Of all the people under my command Saul is the last person anyone would even dare to think of starting a sexual relationship with a Cylon. You know that, Laura. There was only ever one woman where he was concerned...” Bill sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair as he thought about it. Sitting alone in a Raptor had given him a lot of time to think.
Given the time to go over everything that had happened since the exodus from New Caprica, he had realised the serious issues plaguing his family that he had looked past on every occasion they happened to be presented to him. Lee and Dee’s marriage had been unsteady long before the chaos of Baltar’s trial, Kara descended into a downward spiral from the moment she was back on Galactica, and then there was Saul. When he’d returned without Ellen, Bill had made a point of not asking. At first he thought they’d been separated and she was on another ship, maybe they’d even had an argument, but then weeks passed and he didn’t see or hear from her. It wasn’t until the trial that he’d discovered what had happened to her. Losing her had practically destroyed his friend.
“So what you think this relationship, or whatever it is, has evolved from his grief?” She asked as she tried to calm herself down. Having the conversation touch on Ellen wasn’t exactly helping set aside her anger.
“I don’t know, Laura, I really just don’t know,” He said quietly as he sat down beside her once more.
Moving her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, Laura sighed heavily. How could her whole life turn upside down simply from visiting a Cylon Basestar? She wasn’t entirely sure which way was up any more, and wasn’t even certain she wanted to know. “Gods, Bill, this just keeps getting more complicated,” She whispered.
“Which is more complicated,” He began slowly, a hint of mischievousness in his smile. “The part where you’re a mother or the part where you’re going to be a...”
“Don’t even think about it,” She turned to glare at him but was caught off guard by his cheeky smile. Unable to help herself she grinned and shook her head. She felt so tired it was too much hassle to bother arguing over something she couldn’t change. Of course she was still going to deal with Saul. Then there was Caprica to think about, or rather Lucy. “I need you to tell me whether or not you think I’m making the right decision. As much as I want to spend every waking hour getting my little girl back, I know the problems this will cause. And I’m not talking about the Fleet, I’m talking about Caprica and myself... and you. How will this affect us? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with the situation.”
“You have a Caprica Six, I have Lee...” Bill shrugged and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “I’m pretty sure we’re even.”
“Could you please be serious?” She muttered trying to sit back up again.
“I am Laura,” He promised her and waited for her to settle back against him. “I’m with you no matter what. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“And I was trying so hard,” She told him sarcastically before laughing. Before either of them could say any more on the matter they were interrupted by two figures appearing in the doorway. Bill stood automatically as Helo walked in with a Six by his side.
“D’Anna has asked to speak with you both,” Helo explained, his expression clearly showing his disgust that the manipulative Three was using him as a messenger. “We’re about to set up the last few jumps that will lead us to the Fleet.”
“Well we wouldn’t want to keep her waiting,” Bill growled as he helped Laura stand up.
“Unfortunately we have to play nice and she knows it,” Laura reminded him with a small smile. As Bill pulled Helo aside for a moment to discuss what would happen once they reached the Fleet, she glanced at the Six who had accompanied the Captain. Draped over her arm was a very familiar piece of clothing and Laura slowly raised her eyebrow. “You have something for me?” She asked, motioning towards the jacket.
The blonde seemed to freeze as she realised she was being addressed, before quickly nodding and stepping forward. “My sister, Kate, asked me to bring this to you,” She said quietly and held out the jacket. For a brief second her eyes met the President’s. “Be wary, Madame President, D’Anna is callous.” Quickly she looked away again as Laura took the jacket from her.
“Do you have a name?” Laura asked curiously, noticing Bill watching them both.
“No,” Six looked up again, intrigued by the question. Her expression was much like that of a frightened child, a common look that seemed to run throughout her line. “Should I have a name?”
Laura smiled slightly and took her jacket from the timid Six. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had meant to do when she started talking to the familiar Cylon, but suddenly she was inspired to start something. “You can’t grow to be an individual if you don’t make an effort to separate yourself from the others,” Reaching out to touch the younger woman’s hand she flashed a comforting smile. “The best place to start is with a name.”
Confused by the attention she was receiving, as well as the physical contact, the Six had to think about it for a moment. “What if the name I choose is already in use?” She asked slowly.
“When I was at school there were two other girls named Laura in my class and we couldn’t have been more different,” She noticed the troubled expression in the Six’s eyes remained. “Your name identifies you and from that first decision you can build so that you will be different from anyone else who shares your name. Think about it.”
“Are you ready?” Bill asked as he returned to her side, helping her drape her jacket over her shoulders.
“I don’t think anyone is ever really ready for D’Anna,” Laura pointed out with a smirk, linking her arm with his as they followed Helo back into the labyrinth of the Basestar.
The Six followed behind them, watching with interest. She wasn’t sure what it was about Laura Roslin but for some reason she felt the need to protect her. Of course she was aware that one of her own model had spoken to the Colonial Leader at length over the past two days and Leoben was always keeping an eye on her. She couldn’t deny that Laura was a fascinating subject, but she wondered why such a Human would take an interest in any of her kind. There was no logical explanation for it. Laura had every reason to loathe their very existence, yet she was offering advice on becoming an individual. As they passed another Six in the corridor she turned her thoughts to a much more important matter - one that had already occurred to a select few in her line. In order to become an individual she needed to start at the beginning, and in the beginning all humans were given something so simple that she never thought to question it. She needed a name.
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CHAPTER TWELVE
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Character/s: Caprica Six, Laura Roslin
Rating: M
Chapter Summary: Alternate Universe. After Bill's arrival on the Cylon Basestar both he and Laura have some things they need to discuss. Neither of them could have imagined how much their lives could change in two days.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN: DEALING THE DECK
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Books seemed to have a way of shaping her life and relationships. The thought struck her as her fingers caressed the scalded cover of her precious Searider Falcon. From the odd assortment of classics she would coax her father into reading to her, through the many books she studied and taught in her career, and then into her relationship with Bill. Even her vague adolescence seemed to have a book to go with it. That book in particular was plaguing her as she waited for Bill on the wing of his Raptor. Her mind flicked through possible ways of explaining what it held. It wasn’t like it came with a synopsis - there was no pre-written summary available for her to read from. The whole thing was a nightmare.
Laura kicked her legs idly back and forward as she tried to think. All she had to do, to begin with, was tell him the basics. Make it seem simple. Though there was nothing simple about her situation. She was fairly certain that when most people said ‘I love you’ for the first time they didn’t follow it through with ‘by the way my daughter’s a Cylon’. There was no book that could help her through the talk she was preparing to have. Even if she could just walk to a library the odds on there being something titled ‘Cylon Parenting for Dummies’ were beyond slim.
There was another problem with talking about the Journal and that was the few photos she had agreed not to mention. The woman depicted in those photos caused more trouble dead than she ever did when she was alive. One of the Final Five graced a number of photos, filling the position of mother in every shot. If it wasn’t Ellen Tigh then the young blonde had to be her doppelganger. The problem with having that knowledge was the chaos it would cause if she told anyone. Both Leoben and Kate had warned her not to use the knowledge against D’Anna. To do so would also mean having to divulge how they knew. Essentially they would be giving D’Anna the opportunity to destroy what was left of the Colonial Fleet. While knowing the name and whereabouts of one of the Five was definitely in their favour, having D’Anna tell the remaining humans that their President gave birth to a Cylon would cause all hell to break loose. No doubt she would spin it just the way she wanted to turn them all against their leader. It would work so easily after Laura had put so much effort into getting the Quorum to listen to Natalie. Word would spread like wildfire that she had been in league with the Cylons all along, possibly even contacting them so they knew where the Fleet was jumping to.
Worse still she couldn’t possibly tell Bill. Not only was Tigh his XO he was also his best friend, his brother, he would be obliged to tell him. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how Tigh would take the news that his wife was a Cylon. He had already fallen so hard upon his return from New Caprica, they all had, and she just couldn’t do that to him. No. The truth about Ellen had to remain a secret. It was in everyone’s best interest.
“Laura...”
Looking up to find Bill walking towards her, she smiled to try and convince him nothing was wrong. “Don’t worry,” She said as she held their book up. “I haven’t read ahead.”
“Neither have I,” He responded with a chuckle as he came to a stop in front of her. With his hand brushing against her knee he leaned down and gently kissed her lips. Though such a small action, much like the first time he’d tried it, it conveyed so much emotion. “Something’s bothering you, what is it?” His gruff voice was quiet as he searched her eyes, waiting for her to let him in. It took time but they’d made a lot of progress over the years.
“I’ve discovered a few things since I’ve been here,” She told him honestly, finding that the best way to tell him was to simply explain everything from the beginning. “Things about those six years I thought I knew. It turns out those memories of Allison, and the building we lived in, were all fabricated. I was one of the missing children taken by the Cylons. They erased all memories of those six years with them and fed me stories to tell my parents and keep the authorities happy. It’s no wonder I had such vivid nightmares, they were just the old memories trying to break through.” She paused then, realising she should probably give him a chance to process what she was saying. It was a lot to take in and there was a lot more to come. She only hoped he could handle it, the last thing she wanted was for her past to push him away. Not when she’d finally stopped doing so herself.
Bill slowly moved to sit beside her, taking her hand in his as he thought it all through. Nothing good ever came from delving into the history of the Cylons. His own memory replayed the images of imprisoned people through a gap in the door, some screaming for help and others yelling at him to escape while he still could. The thought that Laura may have been one of them sickened him. “I saw things during the War Laura - things the Cylons did,” He said slowly, not wanting what he was about to say to be interpreted the wrong way. “But they let you go?”
She bit her lip as she looked at him, wondering what he was thinking. Her main concern being that he thought she was one of them. It made sense that they would let her go if she was, maybe, one of the Final Five. “They couldn’t kill me like they had so many other girls,” She explained. “I was a valuable asset but also a liability. I’d been trying to escape, the second time I tried it they chose to wipe my memories and send me home...”
“A valuable asset?” Bill cut in, puzzled by her comment. “I don’t understand, Laura.”
“Even back then they were trying to create Hybrids, like Hera, a perfect combination of Cylon and Human,” Laura closed her eyes, letting her head drop as she thought about what she’d read and what she’d been told. A fresh wave of nausea flipped her stomach as the Basestar jumped and she felt his hand tighten around hers. She recalled the report Kara had handed in about her time on Caprica, briefly wondering what would have happened to the young pilot had the Final Five been operating that particular experiment. “From the group of girls they had accumulated they narrowed it down to a select eight that were young, healthy, and fertile. Using cells from the girls and Cylon cells, all eight subjects were pregnant within the first few weeks of the study. They were aiming to create eight perfect Hybrids but then it all went downhill. Seven of the eight embryos didn’t even make it into the second month. Only one was successful.”
“I thought they hadn’t perfected a Hybrid that’s why Hera’s important,” He pointed out, intrigued by her story.
“There was only one perfect Hybrid and she doesn’t even know she’s the one,” She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “The Sixth subject gave birth to a healthy baby girl who she named Lucy. The reason I was valuable to them was because I was that subject, the only one that successfully bore them a Hybrid. I don’t know what happened, but she knew she was a Hybrid when I left. Whatever they’ve done to her it’s left her more childlike now than she was back then.”
“Lucy... she’s the Six in the Brig isn’t she?” Bill asked slowly as he pieced it together. Gently he touched her chip, tipping her face up to look at him. “That’s why she’s experiencing night terrors?”
Laura’s eyes locked with his and she nodded, already having realised the truth of the matter. “I’ve spoken to another Six, and Leoben, it seems that her night terrors and migraines are likely from memories resurfacing after being buried for so many years,” She closed her eyes again and looked away.
Unable to let her push him away again, Bill put his arm around her and pulled her against him. “Are you okay?” He asked her quietly as she collapsed into his embrace. At that point he wasn’t entirely sure of his thoughts in regards to what she was saying. The only thing he was focused on was her. His main concern was being there for her, giving her the comfort and support she needed to deal with what was happening in her life.
“I’m a mother,” She almost whispered, her head nestled against his shoulder. “I’ve been a mother for almost forty years and I wasn’t aware of it. How do you even begin to react to that? I don’t know how this makes me feel, I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel... no, I know how I feel. I’m angry that they used me like that and then made me forget it. I’m upset that no matter how hard I try I can barely remember anything about my daughter...” Pushing away from him, she stood up and walked a few paces with her arms crossed tightly against her stomach. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes. For the first time since she’d spoken to Kate she was letting her emotions break the surface and it felt so good. “Gods Bill, they used my daughter to destroy the Colonies. Tell me how I’m supposed to react to that? Do I just ignore the fact that she’s a Cylon or that she’s my daughter? The Quorum is going to flip, if this gets out to the Fleet...”
“Laura stop!” Bill growled firmly as he stood quickly and moved to place his hands firmly on her shoulders. “One thing I love about you, and will always love about you, is that you put others before yourself. But Laura right now, at this point in your life, you need to be less concerned with how this will effect others and more focused on what you want. Forget about what people will think, forget about who’s on which side, and tell me without another thought how you feel knowing you have a daughter?”
“Alive,” She said before she could stop herself and quickly moved her hand to cover her mouth. It wasn’t until that moment of him forcing her to react that she realised that was how to describe what she was feeling. “For the first time in months there’s no pain, there’s no death, there’s no darkness... it’s something else entirely grounding me and I just feel alive, Bill. I have a family.” Then for the first time since she’d told him she loved him, she grinned. A small laugh bubbled up from the back of her throat as she wiped away her tears.
The last thing Bill had expected when he told her to stop was that she would start laughing, but he wasn’t about to complain. “What’s so funny?” He asked her with a small frown, as his hands slid down her arms until they found a place to rest on her hips.
She shook her head slightly as her laughter continued. “I may have told Captain Agathon to remember he’s not married to the entire production line,” The look on his face had been priceless. If she’d only known then how that particular comment was going to turn around and bite her on the ass. “I suppose I’ll have to keep in mind I didn’t give birth to the entire Six line.”
“I’m pretty sure you would have remembered if you had,” Bill pointed out with a smile, earning him a playful smack against his chest.
“It shouldn’t be that hard,” She said more seriously as she thought about it. “The Six I’ve spoken to, Kate, refers to me as ‘mother of the original’. It’s almost sad to see such a vibrant and individual personality consider herself to be simply a copy of another. But at the same time she doesn’t consider the copies to be my children, my daughter is just the one consciousness that they know as Caprica Six.”
At the mention of the Cylon in Galactica’s brig again, Bill let out a heavy sigh and looked away for a moment. There was one thing she really needed to know given her new found status as Caprica’s mother. He was only grateful that Tigh was far away on another ship for the time being. If his reaction to his best friend frakking a Cylon prisoner was bad, he had every reason to be worried about telling her that his XO knocked up her daughter. “There’s something you need to know about Caprica Six that you may not like,” He began cautiously.
Taking a step back, Laura frowned. She remembered the report about the imprisoned Six on Pegasus and what had almost happened to Athena. Her primary concern when they had placed Caprica in her holding cell was that history would repeat itself. “What happened?” She asked him quietly, fearing his answer.
“She experienced another seizure moments after the Basestar jumped away,” He began to explain to her, leading her back to sit on the wing of the Raptor. Waiting until she’d obliged him and taken a seat, he continued. “Cottle ran more tests that gave him results he wasn’t expecting. It seems that Caprica is pregnant.”
The colour drained from Laura’s face in an instant. It was one thing to find out she was a mother, but another thing entirely to learn that her daughter was going to have a baby. Essentially it meant that she was going to be a grandmother. Which was ridiculous in itself really because Grandmothers were old - really old - and she... was not entirely... “Oh Gods,” She breathed out. The fact that she was pregnant wasn’t even the worst of it. “I thought we agreed she would be heavily guarded at all times. How could this happen?”
“It wasn’t rape Laura,” He told her quickly, realising the conclusion she’d jumped to.
“Well I don’t recall signing off on any conjugal visits...”
“It was Saul, Laura,” Bill explained.
Silence descended on them like a winter’s night. Laura’s eyes darkened as she looked at him, hands gripping the edge of the Raptor tightly. “Are you telling me...” Her voice was low and deadly, sending a chill down his spine. “That your Executive Officer engaged in a consensual sexual act with my... a prisoner who was supposed to be under a twenty-four hour guard?” She raised her eyebrow as she waited for him to respond. Her brain kicked into overdrive as she worked on finding ways of ensuring Colonel Tigh was properly disciplined for his lapse in judgement.
“It’s not unusual for guards to be ordered to leave during an interrogation, particularly when it involves a Senior Officer,” He pointed out to her calmly, though he knew she was already painfully aware of that fact. “Those who knew he was going down there were under the impression he was interrogating an enemy agent, there was no reason to believe otherwise. Of all the people under my command Saul is the last person anyone would even dare to think of starting a sexual relationship with a Cylon. You know that, Laura. There was only ever one woman where he was concerned...” Bill sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair as he thought about it. Sitting alone in a Raptor had given him a lot of time to think.
Given the time to go over everything that had happened since the exodus from New Caprica, he had realised the serious issues plaguing his family that he had looked past on every occasion they happened to be presented to him. Lee and Dee’s marriage had been unsteady long before the chaos of Baltar’s trial, Kara descended into a downward spiral from the moment she was back on Galactica, and then there was Saul. When he’d returned without Ellen, Bill had made a point of not asking. At first he thought they’d been separated and she was on another ship, maybe they’d even had an argument, but then weeks passed and he didn’t see or hear from her. It wasn’t until the trial that he’d discovered what had happened to her. Losing her had practically destroyed his friend.
“So what you think this relationship, or whatever it is, has evolved from his grief?” She asked as she tried to calm herself down. Having the conversation touch on Ellen wasn’t exactly helping set aside her anger.
“I don’t know, Laura, I really just don’t know,” He said quietly as he sat down beside her once more.
Moving her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, Laura sighed heavily. How could her whole life turn upside down simply from visiting a Cylon Basestar? She wasn’t entirely sure which way was up any more, and wasn’t even certain she wanted to know. “Gods, Bill, this just keeps getting more complicated,” She whispered.
“Which is more complicated,” He began slowly, a hint of mischievousness in his smile. “The part where you’re a mother or the part where you’re going to be a...”
“Don’t even think about it,” She turned to glare at him but was caught off guard by his cheeky smile. Unable to help herself she grinned and shook her head. She felt so tired it was too much hassle to bother arguing over something she couldn’t change. Of course she was still going to deal with Saul. Then there was Caprica to think about, or rather Lucy. “I need you to tell me whether or not you think I’m making the right decision. As much as I want to spend every waking hour getting my little girl back, I know the problems this will cause. And I’m not talking about the Fleet, I’m talking about Caprica and myself... and you. How will this affect us? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with the situation.”
“You have a Caprica Six, I have Lee...” Bill shrugged and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “I’m pretty sure we’re even.”
“Could you please be serious?” She muttered trying to sit back up again.
“I am Laura,” He promised her and waited for her to settle back against him. “I’m with you no matter what. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“And I was trying so hard,” She told him sarcastically before laughing. Before either of them could say any more on the matter they were interrupted by two figures appearing in the doorway. Bill stood automatically as Helo walked in with a Six by his side.
“D’Anna has asked to speak with you both,” Helo explained, his expression clearly showing his disgust that the manipulative Three was using him as a messenger. “We’re about to set up the last few jumps that will lead us to the Fleet.”
“Well we wouldn’t want to keep her waiting,” Bill growled as he helped Laura stand up.
“Unfortunately we have to play nice and she knows it,” Laura reminded him with a small smile. As Bill pulled Helo aside for a moment to discuss what would happen once they reached the Fleet, she glanced at the Six who had accompanied the Captain. Draped over her arm was a very familiar piece of clothing and Laura slowly raised her eyebrow. “You have something for me?” She asked, motioning towards the jacket.
The blonde seemed to freeze as she realised she was being addressed, before quickly nodding and stepping forward. “My sister, Kate, asked me to bring this to you,” She said quietly and held out the jacket. For a brief second her eyes met the President’s. “Be wary, Madame President, D’Anna is callous.” Quickly she looked away again as Laura took the jacket from her.
“Do you have a name?” Laura asked curiously, noticing Bill watching them both.
“No,” Six looked up again, intrigued by the question. Her expression was much like that of a frightened child, a common look that seemed to run throughout her line. “Should I have a name?”
Laura smiled slightly and took her jacket from the timid Six. She wasn’t entirely sure what she had meant to do when she started talking to the familiar Cylon, but suddenly she was inspired to start something. “You can’t grow to be an individual if you don’t make an effort to separate yourself from the others,” Reaching out to touch the younger woman’s hand she flashed a comforting smile. “The best place to start is with a name.”
Confused by the attention she was receiving, as well as the physical contact, the Six had to think about it for a moment. “What if the name I choose is already in use?” She asked slowly.
“When I was at school there were two other girls named Laura in my class and we couldn’t have been more different,” She noticed the troubled expression in the Six’s eyes remained. “Your name identifies you and from that first decision you can build so that you will be different from anyone else who shares your name. Think about it.”
“Are you ready?” Bill asked as he returned to her side, helping her drape her jacket over her shoulders.
“I don’t think anyone is ever really ready for D’Anna,” Laura pointed out with a smirk, linking her arm with his as they followed Helo back into the labyrinth of the Basestar.
The Six followed behind them, watching with interest. She wasn’t sure what it was about Laura Roslin but for some reason she felt the need to protect her. Of course she was aware that one of her own model had spoken to the Colonial Leader at length over the past two days and Leoben was always keeping an eye on her. She couldn’t deny that Laura was a fascinating subject, but she wondered why such a Human would take an interest in any of her kind. There was no logical explanation for it. Laura had every reason to loathe their very existence, yet she was offering advice on becoming an individual. As they passed another Six in the corridor she turned her thoughts to a much more important matter - one that had already occurred to a select few in her line. In order to become an individual she needed to start at the beginning, and in the beginning all humans were given something so simple that she never thought to question it. She needed a name.
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CHAPTER TWELVE
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