Love Unbounded III

Laura watched Bill glance down and away at the chief’s words, clearly touched, humbled even. She had seen that expression more than a few times since she’d come to know him and knew it well. It was such a deeply honest reaction and it never failed to make her heart skip a beat or long to drag him to bed in all his adorability.

The chief undoubtedly did not feel the same, but his expression showed a bit of awe at having earned such a response from his commanding officer, a man he obviously respected.

When Bill raised his gaze once more, meeting the younger man’s directly, he stated without an ounce of flattery, “The Valkyrie’s new commander is getting a hell of a deck chief.”

Laura watched the chief visibly flush at the praise, heard him mutter an earnest “Thank you, sir,” which made Bill smile.

Though the smile was meant for the young man in front of him, it gave Laura a new perspective on her lover, and on what this ship and the people aboard it meant to him.

This was a home for him, she realized, and the people here a surrogate family, one that wanted him even as his real family rejected him.

Having watched him with Saul Tigh, she’d already gathered the colonel was more than a friend to Bill, that he was a chosen brother, and that that choice went both ways and bone deep. But these young people, he looked on them like his children and they returned his affection.

She had seen the look on the chief’s face many times over the years as a teacher — a son’s desire for his father’s approval and the joy at realizing he had it. It was a beautiful thing to witness and it made her heart flutter because she knew it made Bill happy. She could see that clear as day. It was all over him, from how he was looking to the bow of his mouth to the way he was standing.

Gods, it was no wonder he wasn’t taking losing his command well. Never mind his career, he was being forced to give up a family that actually wanted him. That could not be easy, for him … or the crew, she observed as the chief made a query, his hands fidgeting nervously as he did so.

“Sir, some of us were wondering if we might be able to, well, transfer to your new command,” the chief said.

Laura watched Bill’s eyes widened a bit and his gaze sharpen in surprise. She felt something similar, as well as a measure of wonder at seeing such loyalty; it was unheard of in the political world.

Considering that he hadn’t yet decided between Galactica and retirement, Laura wasn’t sure how Bill would respond to the chief but it did not surprise her that he was honest when he did. Without an ounce of hesitation, he told the chief that he’d been offered one post, but that it wasn’t on the frontline.

“It wouldn’t be a forward move for your career, Chief,” Bill explained. “Some might consider it a step back,” he cautioned then informed the young man that he hadn’t yet decided if he was going to take the post or just retire early.

The chief was clearly taken aback by that but nodded his understanding after only a short hesitation. He then reiterated his desire to tie his career to Bill’s should he remain in the fleet, indicating, “Cally’s a short-timer anyway, out in a couple years. Jammer, too, and Figurski. They all plan to file for transfers anyway, but they’ve all said they want to go wherever you are assigned, to finish out their careers under you, sir.”

To say Bill was moved, was an understatement. His gaze softened and he had to look away from the chief again to gather himself and quell the rise of emotions. He was a man devoted to the people he loved and it always surprised him when that devotion was returned beyond what was expected.

Laura wanted to reach out and touch him, to offer him her support, let him know she understood, but she didn’t. Not with the chief looking at him so intently, like a kid who’d asked his father for his first car and not sure he was going to get it.

Laura, of course, knew the chief and the others he’d mentioned weren’t going to get an answer today on their request. Bill was still weighing his options, but this request added another point for him on the side of taking the Galactica command. He clearly cared too much for the chief, and the others on this ship who felt similarly about following him, for it to not.

For some reason, probably a vain one, witnessing the respect and affection that ran between these people and Bill filled Laura with great pride at knowing him, at being with him, at being his companion. That pride soared when he looked up at the chief and acknowledged his loyalty and that of his crew.

“Understand, Chief, that if I take this new command, I can’t gut the Valkyrie of all its personnel,” he said, indicating a greater responsibility beyond sentiment. “But I want you to discreetly gather a list. Don’t make any promises or let anyone know what you’re doing. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. Just gather names and get them to me, and if I decide to take command of Galactica, I’ll see what I can do.”

The chief’s eyebrows shot up, but his reaction proved to not be one of shock that his beloved commanding officer wasn’t being offered a prestigious command, but something else entirely — excitement.

“Galactica?” the young man said, his voice filled with a sort of awe. “Sir, backward, forward or sideways, I don’t care which way it takes my career. If you take her, I want to help. She’s a grand lady, sir, and she deserves the best sendoff we can give her.”

With the chief’s enthusiastic reaction, Laura felt another point had been tallied for Bill’s taking command of Galactica, but she continued to hold her tongue and listened as Bill responded, a sort of wistfulness seeming to fall over him that made her wonder if he was remembering his days aboard the ship

“She is a grand lady, Chief,” Bill agreed then asked, “You know she’s being turned into a museum?”

“Yes, sir,” the chief nodded. “I’d love to help do that.”

Bill looked at the young officer, contemplatively. “Would you even if I don’t take command of her?”

The chief held his head high. “I would, sir.”

“I’ll remember that, Chief,” Bill replied then glanced at Laura.

She met his gaze in understanding. It was important to her that the people refitting the Galactica for a museum truly wanted to be there and undertake the task, especially the military personnel who would be the vanguards for keeping the ship as realistically intact as possible.

She appreciated Bill’s sounding that out about the chief. Even if Bill didn’t take the command, she now knew that the chief would be a valuable asset to the project.

That was a good thing to know, but she’d learned something else in the last few moments, something just as important — that she and Bill would probably work well together. He had anticipated a thought that had just begun to form in her mind about the chief, asked the question then looked at her to make sure she’d heard the response. That knowledge made the prospect of his taking command of Galactica all the more enticing from both professional and personal perspectives.

She suspected they would talk about that more later, especially the potential ramifications to their personal relationship. But for now, it was enough to know there was compatibility on that front, too.

After he dismissed the chief back to his duties, they returned to their own, finishing packing his books, and then moved on to his desk and then his sleeping berth. That’s where he kept his most personal items, she discovered, the things most precious to him. There were pictures of his boys, some of them even with their mother, and a man with a similar complexion to Bill’s — his father perhaps? And then there was the one of her and him at the winter solstice gala, clipped from the newspaper, framed and set prominently on his desk, where he could see it while he worked, and turned just so, that it could be seen from his bed, which was several feet away.

They packed those special things into boxes and left them separate from the others. Bill wanted to take those back with them to her house and not trust them to storage. She didn’t blame him; those things were priceless and irreplaceable.

Once they finished with his desk, they used his duffles for the clothing from the drawers and closet, and even tucked the two sets of bed linens that weren’t military issue into the corner of one. He had a garment bag for his extra duty and dress uniforms and she helped him work them inside then zipped it shut.

She left the lavatory to him and, while he gathered up the few items there, she leaned against the little jut of wall marking off his sleeping area from the remainder of his quarters and looked out. It looked different with all his things in boxes, didn’t seem like the home it had when she’d first entered. She was sorry for that.

Hearing him coming out of the lavatory with a little duffle in hand, zipping it closed, she turned to see him setting it atop the pair of boxes near the bed. She looked at the bed and smiled.

“You weren’t kidding about the size of your bed,” she teased.

He chuckled at that and it was a welcome sound even if it didn’t last long and ended with a sigh of what she thought was probably resignation. He leaned over then to double-checked the drawers under the bed to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. It was a time-buying action. He’d already checked the drawers twice.

Laura’s heart went out to him.

As he righted himself, she eased over to him, put her hands on his back and slid them down to his waist. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his shoulder, whispering, “Have you ever shared it with anyone?”

She heard a soft little huff of a laugh then, quietly, “No.”

Laura slid one hand up to cover his heart, eased the other down lay along the length of his at-rest cock. It stirred at her touch and she pressed herself closer to him, rubbed the heel of her palm along his rising erection with a murmur. “Do you want to?”

His hand covered hers, held it to him as he pushed his hips gently forward, into her touch. She hummed softly and lay her head on his shoulder, pressing her cheek to the wool of his uniform, until he eased her hand from him and drifted away with a rumble.

“I’ll lock the hatch.”

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