fic: Games Adults Play (6/6)
Title: Games Adults Play (6/6)
Author: icedteainthebag
Pairings: Bill Adama/Ellen Tigh/Laura Roslin, think square dancing + Saul
Rating: MA
Summary: Ellen's return to the Fleet brings complications to Bill and Laura's lives.
Word Count: 1,694 (17,733 complete)
Notes: Written for the bsg_epics ship swap exchange in order to fulfill wishflsinfl's request of Bill/Laura/Ellen, not PWP, in canon. So basically, write the impossible. Know that going in.
Thanks to everyone who read and commented. It's meant a lot to me.
Links to: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
-
New Caprica. The words that initially brought nothing but dread to Laura were still of little comfort, but at least settling wasn't as terrible as it could have been. In all of her reading on ancient civilizations, she was well informed of people starting anew, everything from social class systems to sanitation systems. Nothing had prepared her for the hardships they were to endure, even things as simple as living on potatoes and vegetation for uncountable amounts of days, weeks, months, until farmers were able to cultivate food resources.
But there were a few pleasures that civilian life on the planet provided. Though his visits weren't often, Bill did come down to her tent to see how well things were going. He would lend her an ear and let her go off about all of the frakkery Baltar's administration was involved in, detailing who wasn't getting what they needed and how it was taking forever for adequate shower houses to be built.
They'd always end up kissing, though. Sometimes she was tired of talking and she was pretty sure Bill was tired of listening.
Ellen Tigh had settled on New Caprica at the same time she did, but Laura had somehow avoided running into her in public places. She didn't feel like they had anything to hide or anything to be ashamed of, but she simply didn't feel like she had anything to say to the woman. And she certainly didn't want Ellen getting any ideas about a replay of their drunken post-election tryst.
Laura considered herself done with those. But the outcome had been good.
After a while, Bill had sent Saul down to settle with Ellen. And that's how they all ended up at Joe's Bar one late evening, torches burning around exquisitely built bar chairs-Laura decided she would have to ask Joe who his carpenter was. Maybe he could build tables for the school.
She'd assumed that Ellen would keep it civil while Saul and Bill yakked it up. Ideally, she would keep it silent, but Laura still had a hard time believing in miracles.
"So have you enjoyed your freedom?"
Laura stopped mid-drink and looked at Ellen. "Have you?"
"Saul and I have, yes." It was as if Ellen needed to confirm to her that she hadn't touched Bill since that night while reminding her that it happened. "It's tough down here, but all you need is love, right?"
Laura finished her drink and tried to take her seriously. "That's true. If that's what makes you happy."
Ellen drank a little more, fiddling with the rim of her glass. "So I assume you two have..."
Laura narrowed her eyes as Ellen dropped the open-ended statement in her lap. "Yes."
A dazzling smile emerged and Ellen put her hand over Laura's. "I'm so glad. So, so glad. Bill needed someone like you in his life. Someone who could devote all her time to him."
Laura laughed. "That," she said, punctuated with a long draw off her glass, "is not me. But we're good."
"He is good." Ellen squeezed her hand. "Isn't he?"
"Frak." Laura didn't mean to emote as loud as she did as she yanked her hand away. She lowered her voice. "Give it up, all right? Give it the hell up."
Laura's outburst brought the attention of Bill and he turned to her. "You okay?"
"Um, obviously not," Ellen said flatly, turning away.
"Yeah." Laura closed her eyes and shook her head, a blush spreading across her liquor-warmed cheeks. "I'm going back to the tent."
Bill leaned in and pressed his lips against her ear. "I'm sorry she's getting under your skin. I'll be along soon, all right?"
The rumble of his voice soothed her and she stood up, avoiding an awkward goodbye to Ellen by turning to Bill and giving him a quick kiss. She nodded and left, relishing the idea of some quiet time alone.
-
When Laura left, Bill turned to Ellen and leaned close to her so she would effectively get his point.
"I think we need to talk," he said, his hand squeezing the back of her chair.
"Oh, Lords. I've heard that before."
He remained stoic, fully knowing that she would revel in any outward reaction he had. She stood up and brushed off her skirt. She walked over to Saul and kissed his cheek, her lips lingering as she slid her hand across the front of his belt. Bill averted his eyes, refusing to acknowledge her stupid display.
"Bill and I need to talk," she finally said. "See you in a few?"
"Fine by me," Saul drawled as he grunted. "I gotta see a man about a horse. Wait, they got those here, don't they?"
Bill shook his head as he tossed some cubits on the bar.
"Shit." Saul stumbled away.
Ellen slipped her arm around Bill's and he breathed deeply, letting her pull him aside. "Let's take a stroll, shall we?"
They made their way down a row between tents, the light of the full moon lighting their path. It was a gorgeous night, for what it was worth, temperate with a sky full of stars. Bill couldn't stop himself from looking up at them, treading carefully on the uneven dirt.
"What's on your mind, Bill?"
"That you need to stop trying to torment Laura. She doesn't care."
Ellen laughed softly. "Oh, she does. And it's so fun."
"You really love to get a rise out of people, don't you?"
She stopped and pulled her arm away from his, facing him. "People are interesting to me. I like knowing what makes them tick. I like getting inside their heads. And sometimes, I like seeing how far I can push them."
"At least you're honest," he replied.
"I'm one of the few."
He agreed with her on that. For all the manipulation she did, she had no qualms about telling anyone what she thought, even if it was after the fact.
"What happened between us on Galactica... what was going between us before that... it can't happen again." Bill shifted his weight and made himself look at her. She kept his gaze, her eyes questioning him.
"You mean the frakking?"
"What else would I mean?"
She looked down, then away. "It's fine. We're both in different places now. And I got what I wanted."
"I know."
"And you got what you wanted."
He took awhile to answer, feeling uneasy. "Yes, I did."
"And now that you got what you wanted, I'd appreciate you not frakking my wife again."
Bill's stomach lurched at the sound of Saul's voice. Saul stepped out into the moonlight from behind a tent. Ellen's blank expression turned into a smile, but she didn't look back at Bill, not even when Saul put his arm around her waist.
Bill stared at her, then at his expressionless best friend. Dread and shame filled him.
"All right, Saul."
He left them between tents, his course irrevocably altered.
-
Mornings on New Caprica had turned damp and cold and it eked into your bones, no matter how many blankets you pulled over your head. It's why Laura loved waking up with him, the heat of his chest against her back staying the chill of the planet, making it almost feel like a home.
Except, the morning after the bar, Laura woke up to a candle burned down to its base, alone in her tent. She kicked off her blankets to find a note left on her trunk that served as a table.
He said something had come up and he had to go back, that he didn't want to wake her, that he'd be back in a few weeks.
The Cylons came back before he did.
-
"You can't do this without him."
Laura's gaze lingered, then shifted to the sky. Ellen watched her stoic expression change, pleading with the cloudless blue above.
"I don't know how much longer I can."
Ellen looked upward and stood with her, searching for a sign in newfound, quiet hope.
-
Epilogue
The Raptor ride to Galactica was usually short, but Laura didn't think it was long enough. It was the first time alone she'd had since she left the surface of the planet. Her nerves hadn't settled; her body was jumpy and she was still bundled up in her thick blue coat.
The Raptor landed in the hangar bay and her vision blurred. So many times she had envisioned this moment behind closed eyes while the reality of the occupation whirled around her. She'd never lost faith, not even under the worst of conditions. But now... now, she was here, and what if he wasn't on the other side of the door when it opened?
She was afraid to expect him.
The hiss of the hatch pressure release jolted her back to reality. She fumbled at her seat restraints with numb fingers that seemed to willfully defy her. She cursed under her breath and stood up just as the door was opening.
She had her face turned and he was a ghost in her peripheral vision, a smear of blue amid the gray grating of the deck. She took a deep breath and faced him, the space between them stretching for miles until he strode with purpose to the side of the Raptor wing. The desperation in his eyes is what made her move, emerging from the door and stepping gingerly down the wing to the floor.
He didn't touch her; he gave her space. She looked into his eyes, wondering what he knew and what he wanted to know. Memories flooded back into her mind and she swallowed thickly, pushing them back into the darkness where they belonged.
He slowly raised his uninjured hand, his palm flat and facing her, fingers outstretched.
She removed her shaking hand from her pocket and watched her fingers tremble as she pressed her palm against his until it stilled.
He grasped her hand, palm closing around it, and she did the same.
"I'm alive," she said, letting one tear fall. "You're alive."
She wondered how many more times they would cheat against death and win.
Author: icedteainthebag
Pairings: Bill Adama/Ellen Tigh/Laura Roslin, think square dancing + Saul
Rating: MA
Summary: Ellen's return to the Fleet brings complications to Bill and Laura's lives.
Word Count: 1,694 (17,733 complete)
Notes: Written for the bsg_epics ship swap exchange in order to fulfill wishflsinfl's request of Bill/Laura/Ellen, not PWP, in canon. So basically, write the impossible. Know that going in.
Thanks to everyone who read and commented. It's meant a lot to me.
Links to: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6
-
New Caprica. The words that initially brought nothing but dread to Laura were still of little comfort, but at least settling wasn't as terrible as it could have been. In all of her reading on ancient civilizations, she was well informed of people starting anew, everything from social class systems to sanitation systems. Nothing had prepared her for the hardships they were to endure, even things as simple as living on potatoes and vegetation for uncountable amounts of days, weeks, months, until farmers were able to cultivate food resources.
But there were a few pleasures that civilian life on the planet provided. Though his visits weren't often, Bill did come down to her tent to see how well things were going. He would lend her an ear and let her go off about all of the frakkery Baltar's administration was involved in, detailing who wasn't getting what they needed and how it was taking forever for adequate shower houses to be built.
They'd always end up kissing, though. Sometimes she was tired of talking and she was pretty sure Bill was tired of listening.
Ellen Tigh had settled on New Caprica at the same time she did, but Laura had somehow avoided running into her in public places. She didn't feel like they had anything to hide or anything to be ashamed of, but she simply didn't feel like she had anything to say to the woman. And she certainly didn't want Ellen getting any ideas about a replay of their drunken post-election tryst.
Laura considered herself done with those. But the outcome had been good.
After a while, Bill had sent Saul down to settle with Ellen. And that's how they all ended up at Joe's Bar one late evening, torches burning around exquisitely built bar chairs-Laura decided she would have to ask Joe who his carpenter was. Maybe he could build tables for the school.
She'd assumed that Ellen would keep it civil while Saul and Bill yakked it up. Ideally, she would keep it silent, but Laura still had a hard time believing in miracles.
"So have you enjoyed your freedom?"
Laura stopped mid-drink and looked at Ellen. "Have you?"
"Saul and I have, yes." It was as if Ellen needed to confirm to her that she hadn't touched Bill since that night while reminding her that it happened. "It's tough down here, but all you need is love, right?"
Laura finished her drink and tried to take her seriously. "That's true. If that's what makes you happy."
Ellen drank a little more, fiddling with the rim of her glass. "So I assume you two have..."
Laura narrowed her eyes as Ellen dropped the open-ended statement in her lap. "Yes."
A dazzling smile emerged and Ellen put her hand over Laura's. "I'm so glad. So, so glad. Bill needed someone like you in his life. Someone who could devote all her time to him."
Laura laughed. "That," she said, punctuated with a long draw off her glass, "is not me. But we're good."
"He is good." Ellen squeezed her hand. "Isn't he?"
"Frak." Laura didn't mean to emote as loud as she did as she yanked her hand away. She lowered her voice. "Give it up, all right? Give it the hell up."
Laura's outburst brought the attention of Bill and he turned to her. "You okay?"
"Um, obviously not," Ellen said flatly, turning away.
"Yeah." Laura closed her eyes and shook her head, a blush spreading across her liquor-warmed cheeks. "I'm going back to the tent."
Bill leaned in and pressed his lips against her ear. "I'm sorry she's getting under your skin. I'll be along soon, all right?"
The rumble of his voice soothed her and she stood up, avoiding an awkward goodbye to Ellen by turning to Bill and giving him a quick kiss. She nodded and left, relishing the idea of some quiet time alone.
-
When Laura left, Bill turned to Ellen and leaned close to her so she would effectively get his point.
"I think we need to talk," he said, his hand squeezing the back of her chair.
"Oh, Lords. I've heard that before."
He remained stoic, fully knowing that she would revel in any outward reaction he had. She stood up and brushed off her skirt. She walked over to Saul and kissed his cheek, her lips lingering as she slid her hand across the front of his belt. Bill averted his eyes, refusing to acknowledge her stupid display.
"Bill and I need to talk," she finally said. "See you in a few?"
"Fine by me," Saul drawled as he grunted. "I gotta see a man about a horse. Wait, they got those here, don't they?"
Bill shook his head as he tossed some cubits on the bar.
"Shit." Saul stumbled away.
Ellen slipped her arm around Bill's and he breathed deeply, letting her pull him aside. "Let's take a stroll, shall we?"
They made their way down a row between tents, the light of the full moon lighting their path. It was a gorgeous night, for what it was worth, temperate with a sky full of stars. Bill couldn't stop himself from looking up at them, treading carefully on the uneven dirt.
"What's on your mind, Bill?"
"That you need to stop trying to torment Laura. She doesn't care."
Ellen laughed softly. "Oh, she does. And it's so fun."
"You really love to get a rise out of people, don't you?"
She stopped and pulled her arm away from his, facing him. "People are interesting to me. I like knowing what makes them tick. I like getting inside their heads. And sometimes, I like seeing how far I can push them."
"At least you're honest," he replied.
"I'm one of the few."
He agreed with her on that. For all the manipulation she did, she had no qualms about telling anyone what she thought, even if it was after the fact.
"What happened between us on Galactica... what was going between us before that... it can't happen again." Bill shifted his weight and made himself look at her. She kept his gaze, her eyes questioning him.
"You mean the frakking?"
"What else would I mean?"
She looked down, then away. "It's fine. We're both in different places now. And I got what I wanted."
"I know."
"And you got what you wanted."
He took awhile to answer, feeling uneasy. "Yes, I did."
"And now that you got what you wanted, I'd appreciate you not frakking my wife again."
Bill's stomach lurched at the sound of Saul's voice. Saul stepped out into the moonlight from behind a tent. Ellen's blank expression turned into a smile, but she didn't look back at Bill, not even when Saul put his arm around her waist.
Bill stared at her, then at his expressionless best friend. Dread and shame filled him.
"All right, Saul."
He left them between tents, his course irrevocably altered.
-
Mornings on New Caprica had turned damp and cold and it eked into your bones, no matter how many blankets you pulled over your head. It's why Laura loved waking up with him, the heat of his chest against her back staying the chill of the planet, making it almost feel like a home.
Except, the morning after the bar, Laura woke up to a candle burned down to its base, alone in her tent. She kicked off her blankets to find a note left on her trunk that served as a table.
He said something had come up and he had to go back, that he didn't want to wake her, that he'd be back in a few weeks.
The Cylons came back before he did.
-
"You can't do this without him."
Laura's gaze lingered, then shifted to the sky. Ellen watched her stoic expression change, pleading with the cloudless blue above.
"I don't know how much longer I can."
Ellen looked upward and stood with her, searching for a sign in newfound, quiet hope.
-
Epilogue
The Raptor ride to Galactica was usually short, but Laura didn't think it was long enough. It was the first time alone she'd had since she left the surface of the planet. Her nerves hadn't settled; her body was jumpy and she was still bundled up in her thick blue coat.
The Raptor landed in the hangar bay and her vision blurred. So many times she had envisioned this moment behind closed eyes while the reality of the occupation whirled around her. She'd never lost faith, not even under the worst of conditions. But now... now, she was here, and what if he wasn't on the other side of the door when it opened?
She was afraid to expect him.
The hiss of the hatch pressure release jolted her back to reality. She fumbled at her seat restraints with numb fingers that seemed to willfully defy her. She cursed under her breath and stood up just as the door was opening.
She had her face turned and he was a ghost in her peripheral vision, a smear of blue amid the gray grating of the deck. She took a deep breath and faced him, the space between them stretching for miles until he strode with purpose to the side of the Raptor wing. The desperation in his eyes is what made her move, emerging from the door and stepping gingerly down the wing to the floor.
He didn't touch her; he gave her space. She looked into his eyes, wondering what he knew and what he wanted to know. Memories flooded back into her mind and she swallowed thickly, pushing them back into the darkness where they belonged.
He slowly raised his uninjured hand, his palm flat and facing her, fingers outstretched.
She removed her shaking hand from her pocket and watched her fingers tremble as she pressed her palm against his until it stilled.
He grasped her hand, palm closing around it, and she did the same.
"I'm alive," she said, letting one tear fall. "You're alive."
She wondered how many more times they would cheat against death and win.