Fic: The Other Side of Dawn (3/?)
Title: The Other Side of Dawn
Genre: Drama/Angst/Romance/Action
Rating: MA/ K+/PG-13
Summary: AU for miniseries. Laura Roslin isn't the Dying Leader, but as XO of Pegasus under Admiral Cain, she finds herself bereft at the End of the Worlds, trying to do her duty all while fearing the deaths of her friends William and Saul.
Part 3 of ?: 180
When she came to, Laura immediately recognized the harshness of the lights above her. Life Station. How many times had she been here since her world fell apart at the hands of the Cylons?
“Too damn many, woman.”
She smiled, “Hello Joe.”
Joe Bindo, an old man by anyone's standards, snorted at her casual greeting as he studied her charts. He was almost bald, with white hair clinging to either side of his head and standing in brilliant contrast to his dark skin. Brown eyes glared at her through his glasses. He'd been her closest friend on the ship since her first tentative steps as a Colonel, and she'd come to rely on his brutal honesty to keep her grounded in the society of tension that was life aboard Admiral Cain's warship.
“For Gods sakes Laura, I'll bet Jack Cottle never had this much interaction with his XO.”
She blanched.
“...I'm sorry, Laura. How are you feeling? Any dizziness or spots in your vision?”
“Just a rather impressive headache.” She noted, slowly moving to sit sideways on the bed, “How long have I been out?”
Joe moved to disconnect her monitor wire, “A few days. XO is Juergen for the duration. I want you to stay here for a while so I can monitor you. And stop looking at me like that, you had a concussion and were unconscious for over the 24 hour mark. You rest. Juergen can handle it for a while.”
Laura bristled, her soft features hardening. No, he very well couldn't. Juergen and Cain may have known one another a long time, but Laura knew how to keep her grounded. The woman required her XO to be subtle with their suggestions or beliefs. Juergen was a good man, but too by-the-book for his own good.
But the look on Doctor Bindo's, Joe's, face brokered no argument. Laura just had to hope no harm came from her absence.
She lay back down, grumbling, “And what am I supposed to do for my confinement?”
Joe said nothing, but when he turned around, it was to throw a book at her chest. She caught it deftly and turned it around to read the title.
“Dark Day.” Laura whispered, running her hand over the cover lovingly. Opening the cover, she smiled at the message on the inside-
Congrats, Airlock. I know this isn't your thing, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. Good Hunting aboard Pegasus.
-Husker
It had been sitting on her desk in her new quarters when she first set foot on Pegasus as it's XO. She'd never figured out who put it there, but she'd read it and loved it, ending up beginning her collection of mystery novels. A Murder on Picon was the last she'd ever bought. She'd been thinking of giving that one to Bill...
“Thanks, Joe.” She said softly, ignoring the way her vision was blurring.
“No problem, kid.” A warm but short grip on her shoulder and Joe was off to check on his endless stream of patients.
Laura leaned back, clutching the book to her chest and beginning to doze off as the mellow scent of the old book lulled her into relaxation.
“Nice stealth mission, Husker.” She said into the phone. It was the end of her first stint in CIC as an XO and she'd just discovered the book lying on her desk under a pile of reports,” How did you manage it?”
“Trade secret.”
“ Well thank you.” She said sincerely, running her hand over the cover,”It looks promising.”
“You're welcome, Airlock. How was it in CIC?”
“Not quite so bad. I kept smiling though, I was so...its wonderful Bill. Tell Saul his horror stories didn't work.”
“You hear that, Saul?” Bill yelled behind him, “Laura says you're full of shit!”
Laura laughed at the muffled yet indignant sound of Saul Tigh's reply. Bill came back on a second later, chuckling softly.
“Listen, we're about to head out. Saul and I both need to be in CIC. One of us should be able to talk to you later. Good Hunting, Airlock.”
“Good Hunting, Husker.”
“Laura, Laura wake the frak up.”
Laura's eyes shot open, the memory of her own goodbye so many years ago echoing in her head. Joe was above her, looking grave and nervous. Something was terribly wrong if Joe was waking any of his patients.
“Whats the matter?”
“The matter is your insane CO is about to launch an attack against a Cylon staging area instead of the small convoy we expected.”
“WHAT?” Laura yelled, throwing her feet on the ground and standing in a flash. She stumbled a bit, still in some pain. Joe held her arm as she moved forward.
“Thats insane. She said she'd never do that. We'll suffer losses like....oh my Gods. I need to get to CIC. Juergen'll do something momentously stupid.”
“I know.” Joe said, and with that the two moved quickly towards CIC.
She came in just as Juergen spoke his reluctance and felt her stomach turn as Cain's stern features turned to stone.
“Give me your side arm.”
“Admiral! Don't!!” Laura yelled, clutching the railing. Cain turned to her, as did Juergen, surprised.
“Happy as I am to see you up, Colonel Roslin, please stand down.”
Laura said nothing, instead walking around to stand beside Juergen.
“I doubt doing what you think is going to help. My Gods, Helena, have you completely lost site of everything that makes you human?” She challenged, stepping in front of Juergen.. She was going to save someone and didn't seem to care that Cain would kill her for it.
“We do not have that luxury, Colonel. Now, move aside, Colonel, I believe Doctor Bindo has ordered you to not enter CIC with the after effects of your concussion.”
“No.”
“Then I'm sorry.” Cain said simply, pulling the gun from Juergen's side and pointing it at Laura's head. Laura took a deep breath and closed her eyes, envisioning Bill and her family aboard Galactica.
Gods, let me see them first.
The shot rattled her bones.