Bill was sitting at his desk completing his logs when Laura slipped through the hatch.

She stood and watched him covertly for a moment. She wondered just how much of a toll today had taken on him. He looked exhausted; how much more could he withstand? He had such strength, and she'd been taking advantage of that ever since returning from New Caprica. She'd been letting him take the punches for her.

"Hey," she whispered.

She liked the way his mouth curved into a smile at the sound of her voice.

She walked over and sat down beside him, unable to stop her hand from brushing against the sleeve of his uniform. "Why don't you come over to the couch and have a rest? The President isn't going to demand a copy of these."

"It helps me slow down," he explained. "Strangely, I find it relaxing."

"Surely there's something else you can do to relax?" she asked saucily.

He raised an eyebrow and they both laughed.

Their banter had become such a familiar routine. It was nice, a break from reality. Their flirting meant nothing, but represented everything.

"Have you ordered dinner?"

"Yeah, but it won't be just us. Lee and Dee will be here soon."

She tried not to show her disappointment. She had come to treasure the time she and Bill spent sharing an evening meal together. Bill was the only one she could truly be herself around.

Bill squeezed her hand. "I know," he said, as if she had voiced her anxious thoughts out loud.

She felt a gentle smile tug at the corners of her mouth. She always surprised herself with the amount of tenderness she felt towards this man. Unable to resist, she leaned over and kissed him softly.

"Dad."

Laura jumped back at the sound of Lee's voice behind her.

"Son," Bill greeted Lee. He gave Laura's hand another squeeze before releasing it to stand and kiss Dee on the cheek. "Dinner should be here in a moment. I'll get us some drinks."

"You're staying for dinner, Madam President?" Lee asked stiffly.

Laura hesitated. Maybe she should return to Colonial One and let Bill have dinner alone with his family.

"Yes," Bill answered for her.

"I thought you told Kara tonight was only for family," Lee snarled.

Bill flashed his son an irritated glance over his shoulder. "Kara is family, she knows that."

Laura bit down on her lip to prevent herself from also snapping at Lee.

Dee hovered behind her husband. Had Bill insisted on Kara not attending tonight to save Dee the discomfort of dining with her rival? It sounded like something Bill would do. Taking punches for Dee as well.

She hadn't realised that Bill knew about Lee and Kara's affair. They had never discussed it. However, it had become apparent to Laura some time ago. She knew the signs, after all.

Bill returned to her side, handed her a glass, and gently gripped her elbow. "I also consider Laura to be family," he declared.

Lee's gaze darted between his father and Laura. Bill tilted his chin up, almost daring Lee to make another snide remark.

Laura looked away, sipping her drink to calm her suddenly fraught nerves.

Luckily there was a tap on the hatch announcing the arrival of their dinner, stalling any further debate about her place in the Adama family.

Laura smiled as Bill manoeuvred his guests to ensure that no one sat at the ends of the dining table. Instead she and Bill sat together on one side, with Lee and Dee across from them. It was a cosy, intimate setting, one that should befit a family. Lee obviously didn't share her warm feelings about the situation.

"I'm surprised the President found it necessary to shuttle over to Galactica tonight, considering the fuel situation."

Laura's mouth twisted. Lee was right. She shouldn't have wasted fuel to come over here tonight. It was one of the things that infuriated her more and more about Lee: his annoying tendency to be right.

"The President has resolved the Union dispute." Bill once again took Lee's punch on his own chin. "We'll begin refuelling in the morning."

"It's over?" Dee asked, freely showing her relief.

"I resolved it with the Admiral's help," Laura murmured.

The strike had stirred up memories of Richard, and she couldn't help but compare her ex-lover's behaviour with Bill's. Richard had done nothing but undermine her efforts with the teachers' strike on Caprica. Bill had done everything in his power to support her.

"So, the tylium workers agreed to go back to work just like that?" Lee snapped his fingers as well as his words. "What incentive did you offer them?"

Laura held her breath for a few moments, resisting the urge to go into full presidential mode.

"Chief Tyrol and I sorted out two or three strategies that can be put into place immediately," she eventually settled on saying.

"Maybe you should have let Vice President Zarek handle the negotiations. He's more qualified when it comes to understanding working-class people."

She forked some of the algae concoction into her mouth, chewing it as slowly and as deliberately as she could.

Beside her Bill snorted in disgust. "Laura's the President. She knows what she's doing."

"So no one is allowed to offer an opinion? That's how rumours about dictatorships start."

Laura felt Bill's palm rub along her thigh under the table before he once again stepped in to answer his son. "We all have our jobs to do. Laura's the President. Let her run the government how she sees fit. She doesn't offer you opinions on how to fly a Viper. "

"I think that was the tylium workers' point. They'd been told they had a job to do, and to keep their mouths shut and do it."

Laura couldn't hold her tongue any longer. "A lot of their issues come from having a lack of downtime. The monotonous nature of their lives in the refinery differs greatly from yours. They are sitting in the same ship, doing the same menial task, day in and day out."

"But you're not seeing the point," Lee argued, "I have no other recourse than to be a Viper pilot."

"We need every good Viper pilot we can get," Bill interrupted. Then, he changed the subject: "Would anyone like me to order coffee or dessert?"

"No thanks," they all said in unison.

0.0.0

Laura fell backwards onto the couch.

"Oh, was he like that as a child?"

Bill chuckled, sat down beside her and lifted her lower legs to lay them upon his lap.

"I guess I wasn't there enough to realise. He was pretty quiet when I was at home. Zak was always the one in trouble."

Laura hummed. "Classic first child syndrome?"

He ran his finger across the arch of her foot, making her giggle and kick out at him.

"Don't! You know I'm ticklish there," she cried.

He obeyed her gentle protest, moving to massage her ankle.

"He was spoiled by his parents until Zak came along," she mused, almost to herself. "Then, Zak became the cute one who made everyone laugh. Or, knowing you, you subconsciously viewed Zak as the weakest Adama and you went into protective mode with him – unwittingly making Lee jealous."

"You gonna become my therapist?"

She smiled. "Maybe. You've acted as mine for long enough."

"I wish. I can't decide who's more stubborn: you, Saul, or Kara. None of you will open up and talk to me about New Caprica."

Her smile vanished.

She knew that Bill was happy when he'd learned the three people closest to him had survived the occupation. But had they really?

Saul spent long hours in his rack, draped in Ellen's clothes, drinking.

According to Bill, Kara had made progress. She'd stopped fighting with the other pilots, at least. The death of one of her fellow pilots during the journey to the algae planet had proven a perverse blessing in that regard. But it was tiny steps.

And as for herself…

"Frakkin' New Caprica. Gaius frakkin' Baltar."

He winced. Laura rarely swore, but she had to admit she had resorted to crude language quite often lately, usually when discussing Baltar. Gaius frakkin' Baltar. She called him that over and over again.

"If I wasn't so wrapped up in this frakking trial," she continued, and still swearing, "so uptight about his frakking manifesto, then I might not have had my head up my ass, and I might have sorted out this whole tylium ship mess without so much unnecessary heartache."

"We'll get there."

She tried to smile, but it didn't quite happen. She knew Bill felt so useless when they spoke about New Caprica. She knew he felt like all he could offer her were pathetic platitudes.

But she readily accepted them. She was just happy he was still here, by her side.

He had tried to push her away once. He'd stood in the ring and declared that he was going to be a soldier, a great leader of men, a loyal patriot-all that but no more.

Thankfully, his resolution had lasted barely a few days.

Bill Adama wasn't the type of man who could just switch off his emotions.

She knew what had happened today. He'd ordered Cally's execution. But she also knew he would never have let the Marine pull the trigger. He couldn't stop himself from caring, loving. Kat, Helo, Athena, Hera, Dee, Tyrol, Cally, her. He'd always cared about her, it seemed...

"I wish I could take you back to Colonial One with me," she murmured.

His hand had crept higher, circling her right knee.

"What were you planning on doing with me on Colonial One?"

She giggled. "Not what you're insinuating, Admiral."

"Pity." He squeezed her knee, and his hand slid higher still.

"I was thinking more of a nice relaxing massage," she said as he traced circles on her thighs, making her wriggle in response. Sadly, his hand settled back onto her knee. But at least she could think clearly again, so she returned to the previous topic. "I've had insomnia," she admitted.

"Nightmares?"

"No, not really. I'm just having trouble getting to sleep in the first place. I'm the crazy old lady rattling around the ship at all hours of the night. The location of my new quarters isn't helping," she grumbled. "It's noisier than where my bed used to be. Is your offer still open?"

"No. I'm sorry, Laura. I have to take back that offer," he said in his most serious voice.

"Oh?" She raised one eyebrow and her teeth bit down on her lower lip to suppress her giggle. She knew him better than any other woman alive. She knew he would never be so impolite as to refuse her request for sanctuary aboard the Galactica.

"Yeah, it's no longer one of my beds. It's my bed."

"Your bed only?"

She played along with his repartee, just as he knew she would. They'd been trading witty remarks for two years now; it was second nature.

"Yeah, my rack to be exact. I really think we both need to catch up on some well-deserved sleep."

"Last time I slept with you, you snored all night, kept me awake."

"That's not fair. I was stoned. And I don't remember you complaining at the time."

Why were they talking about that night again? They'd only rehashed it a few days ago. They needed to let it go. Of course, she couldn't. And apparently, he couldn't either.

Bill pulled her up until they were face to face on the couch. "Laura, something important happened between us on Founder's Day. Before then, you'd spent time with me because you were the President and I was the Admiral. That afternoon..." Bill took a deep breath. "That afternoon and that night, you sought my company for no other reason but to spend time with me. That's why it's special to me. Laura wanted to spend her time with Bill. I knew I loved you before then, but that night I fell in love with you all over again."

He leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

"Come and live with me," he pleaded, now completely serious.

"Bill," she gasped. "You know I can't." She hadn't been expecting this. "The President can't move in with the head of the military. Your own son is having a difficult time accepting me staying for dinner."

"I couldn't care less about the Fleet. It's selfish, but it's true. I rarely get anything I want in this life. Even when I thought I had - Carolanne, my sons, a career in the Fleet - fate stepped in and snatched it away from me. I want you, Laura. Surely, just this once…"

"Bill..." She repeated his name, as she couldn't seem to articulate any other words. She could think of a thousand reasons why she shouldn't agree to such a thing, and only one reason why she could. And that one seemed to be the most compelling argument at the moment. "I can't—" she began.

"Yes, you can," he growled, "you're not giving everyone enough credit. Do you seriously think that after what we've all gone through with the Cylon attacks, with New Caprica, with the food shortage, with one crisis after another, anyone would care if we share quarters?"

After he'd finished his tirade, Laura slowly, almost methodically, unwound her legs from his lap and stood. She very carefully avoided his gaze. If she looked into his eyes…

She retrieved her shoes and jacket. Bill sat silent, but she knew his gaze was following her every movement.

"I need to go. Your LSO asked if I could shuttle back at 2300 hours."

Bill made no move to stop her, but remained seemingly paralysed on the couch.

Even when she kissed his cheek and whispered 'good night' before walking out the hatch, he never said a word.