34 – Catching Up on the Shore

“Bout time.” As Laura opened the door, Cottle raised an eyebrow. “Young lady.”

“Sorry.” She wrinkled her nose at him as she stepped aside to let him enter. “You did bring food, right?”

“Figured it would be the only way the two of you would let me in.” Chuckling, he held up a basket. “Bill’s mom sent it, said you should keep the basket to collect herbs in.”

“Thank you.” Taking it, she brushed a kiss across his cheek. “And we are glad to see you, despite…”

“Yeah.” He followed her through the house. “Bill up yet?”

“Getting dressed.” Laura set the basket on the counter, glad they’d taken the time to clean up the kitchen after their middle of the night activities. “Did you have any problems getting back out here?”

“Nope.” When she held up a glass, he nodded. “Like I told Bill, I wanted to come by before I headed out. Got some people I need to track down…then I’ll be back.”

“Good.” She handed him the glass and poured another for herself, taking a sip before setting the food out. “Do you think you’ll stay around here?”

“Miss me?” he chuckled.

“You yes.” She laughed softly. “Being your patient, no.”

“Life was a lot quieter without you two.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Missed you, young lady.”

“Likewise.” Laura smiled.

“Less than a day and you’re already making time with another man.” Bill chuckled as he entered.

“Hey. She and I have shared many a moment.” Cottle stepped back and clapped Bill on the arm. “Glad to see you could join us.”

“Someone beat me to the shower.” Taking the glass Laura handed him, Bill grinned.

“You still got your back washed.” Leaning up on her toes, she kissed him. “So don’t complain.”

“Wasn’t.” Sliding his arm around her waist, they returned their attention to the man grinning at them.

“You two.” Cottle chuckled again. “Nice to see you this affectionate when you’re awake.”

“See.” Laura giggled and returned to setting out the food. “I told him you’d seen us in Sick Bay.”

“Rather hard to avoid when you insisted on privacy, but still needed to be monitored.” He lifted an eyebrow. “And that would go for both of you.”

“I suppose it would.” With a sigh, Bill took the plate Laura handed him as Cottle did the same. “We eating in here or outside?”

“Bit chilly today, you two were lucky the weather held yesterday.” He glanced out the window. “Although, I suppose you haven’t taken a look outside yet.”

“No.” Laura turned to glance out the window. Sure enough, the sunlight that had fallen across the bed earlier that morning had been replaced with a blustery looking overcast sky. “Oh…well, inside I suppose.”

As they settled around the table next to the window overlooking the garden, Bill took a breath. “Lee’s well?”

“Yeah. Well, he was when…” Cottle shrugged. “The two of them like the exploring thing. Don’t quite understand it, but they’re happy. And, she’s able to work with some of the outlying settlements if they need medical attention. Lee’s taken to surveying, continuing what he started…”

“What?” Bill and Laura exchanged a glance.

“He…” Cottle took a drink and set his glass back down before gazing levelly at them. “He was the one who found you. He was on his way back from one of his surveying trips…”

“He used to stop by every six weeks or so.” Bill reached out and absently caught Laura’s hand. “Spend a day or two with me before heading back to the main settlement.”

“You were about a week out from us.” Cottle shook his head. “Lee scared the frak out of us, used your Raptor to come get me. Didn’t know you’d kept it in good condition.”

“Tinkered with it now and then.” Bill shook his head. “Knew I wouldn’t need it, but gave me something to do.”

“Well, scared us all to see it come screaming in. He landed long enough to get a few of us, Helo, Romo, Saul, and me. Made sure everyone knew it wasn’t an attack, just wanted to get us back to you.” He sighed. “Too late of course. Best I could tell, your heart just gave out. You were barely alive when we got there…nothing I could do, nothing you wanted me to do.” As they glanced at each other, he took a deep breath. “The only thing you were insistent on was that we bury you with Laura. You got that out, along with a final word to Lee and Saul…and were gone.”

“I remember…going to sleep, have a vague recollection of seeing Lee and…” Bill shook his head. “Then the boat.” As Laura tightened her grip on his hand, he smiled at her. “Then you.”

“Mmm hmm.” She returned his smile.

“We buried you next to Laura…then…” Cottle shook his head, “we burned the cabin. It was your place, yours and Laura’s. Didn’t want anyone disturbing you after that. Ellen said they could see it from the village, a light in the distance. Wasn’t to waste the resources or your cabin, and…from what I could tell, you weren’t in any pain. It was just…your time.”

“How long…” Laura sighed. “I mean, time here is different from there…”

“Just under a year. And from what I can tell, I went about six months after Bill.” Shaking his head, Cottle chuckled. “One thing you didn’t know about, was the number of babies that were born within the first year that were named various versions of both your names…William, Bill, Adam, Laura…Rose…you name it, quite a few.”

“Babies?” Laura smiled wistfully and glanced at Bill. “See, they were following our original plan. Babies.”

“Your original plan.” He chuckled. “And Saul and Ellen?”

“Represent the Cylons, they work with Romo…pretty much everyone has had to learn to lean on each other for survival.” Taking a bite of food, he chewed as he thought. “Oh, Ellen, she’s probably changed the most from what you would have remembered of her. She started teaching.”

“Teaching? Ellen?” Laura blinked in astonishment. “Really?”

“Along with others.” Cottle shook his head. “She changed a lot. Both of them. They found a new purpose…and what they’d originally hoped for, however long ago, seemed to make sense. Helo and Sharon, they’re heading up an agricultural collective of sorts. Have a little brother for Hera as well.”

“Good.” Laura smiled, picking up her glass and taking a sip. “Hera?”

“Gorgeous. Precocious.” He grinned. “Keeping her parents on the run, but she’s a good kid. Puts up with their protectiveness, and smart as a whip.”

“I’m glad.” Absently, Laura ran a finger around the rim of her glass. “Much as I hate to ask…Baltar?”

“Ah. Gaius.” Cottle took a deep breath and shifted his weight in the chair before answering. “Avoids his former cult groupies like the plague. He’s made it clear, he wants nothing to do with them. He and Caprica…” He paused to take a swallow from his glass. “They’re good together. One of the last things I remember doing before arriving here, was telling them that she’s pregnant. Hopefully, no complications. He’s focusing on science, she’s leveling between science and studying the books we have, on anything and everything.”

“Books?” Laura tilted her head and glance at Bill. “Your books?”

“Yeah. I had a box with some with us, but the rest I’d left for the settlement. Along with any others we could find. A library of sorts.” Bill nodded.

“Lee kept your books, think he gave them to Sharon for safekeeping, except for two that he buried with you. Said you’d want them with you always and had made him promise to do so.” Cottle explained.

“Searider and ‘The Thief…” Bill explained softly at her inquiring look. “Those were ours.”

“Yes. They were.” Leaning forward, she kissed him gently. “And they are.”

“Two of the first we purchased together here.” Bill explained as Laura leaned back in her chair.

“How did Lee and Layne end up together?” Laura asked softly, smiling at Bill’s confused look. “Her first name, Bill.”

“Right.” He shook his head. “Forgot.”

“She’d gone with him on some of his shorter trips back to outlying areas that had some medical questions. I wasn’t about to head out there, so she did. Somewhere along the line, they…well, decided to make it formal.” He grinned. “Romo insisted on doing the ceremony, Helo and Sharon stood up with them. We did it at the gathering celebrating the first harvest. Trust me, this one he didn’t rush into. They, well, they don’t have what the two of you have, who does? But, they have a bond, and they genuinely care for each other, if it wasn’t a deep love, it soon would be.”

“Good.” Laura took Bill’s hand, lacing her fingers with his. “He deserves it, as does she.”

“She’s a good person.” Bill added softly. “She took care of you.”

“She saved your life.” Laura smiled back at him before returning her attention to Cottle. “So, you’re going to go find…”

“I’ve got a granddaughter to find, and my daughter.” He smiled fondly, “They were on Leonis…”

“And then what?” Laura stood and picked up the plates, carrying them to the sink. “No, I’ll get coffee, you stay there.” She smiled at the men. “This time.”

“Don’t know.” Cottle glanced out the window. “This seems like a nice area to settle in…”

“It is.” Bill nodded slowly.

“So, we’ll see.” As Laura set a coffee cup in front of him, he sighed. “We’ll see. I’m still…adjusting.”

“It takes time.” She slid back into her chair. “We’re all still adjusting.”

“You two seem to be adjusting well enough.” He sipped at his coffee.

“It has its moments.” Bill chuckled. “We’re still finding people…places, situations. But, there’s things here we remember, people we haven’t seen…”

“I noticed. Good turnout yesterday.” Cottle grinned. “Some familiar faces, some new ones.”

“Our families, friends from the past, from Galactica.” Bill stated, absently edging his chair closer to Laura’s as he reached out and traced her arm with his finger. “We’d thought something smaller, but then her mother…well, both our mothers…”

“And things just sort of took off from there.” Laura finished. “Although it was nice to see people I hadn’t seen yet, and to share the day with others…”

“Met your, I think she said college roommate of yours, Sienna…Sierra, something like that.” Cottle sipped his coffee.

“Sierra.” She smiled, “grad school roommate actually. We ran into her daughter a few nights ago, she’d arranged for Sierra to make it here.”

“She mentioned her daughter, said she worked at Caprica Nights?” At Laura’s nod, he continued, a fond smile crossing his face. “Gods, I remember that place. We used to go to the one out by Caprica University when I was here doing some specialization training.”

“The Caprica Nights by the University?” Bill frowned slightly, trying to remember what he’d read in Cottle’s service file, years ago.

“Yeah. The younger interns used to go there to blow off steam,” he chuckled, “took pity on those of us in from the Service back for training, so they’d take us there. Of course, we’d all get drunk and raise hell. Then try to cover for each other the next morning. Or brag about what had happened the night before.” He shook his head. “There was this one waitress. Classy, great to look at, reddish brown hair that went down her back, legs to…well,” he glanced at Laura, “sorry. But, she took care of us, made sure we were okay to get back to the Medical Complex, or called for a cab. After I shipped back out, I went back the next year, but she wasn’t there any more, they said she’d been a student, had graduated, like a lot of the others. That was the good thing about going there, great place to get drunk and have fun, with no worries about getting home, or into anything you couldn’t handle. Unlike some of those places you and Saul, mainly Saul, frequented on tour.”

“Well, we were in the Merchant Fleet, got into the habit there.” Bill grinned, his hand still running along Laura’s arm, trying to relax the tenseness he could feel there. “Had to continue it.”

“Yeah. Still never found anything like that Rose again.” Shaking his head, he took a swallow of coffee then stared at Laura, who’d burst out coughing. “You okay?”

“Fine.” She managed a smile, waving a hand at him. “Something went down the wrong way. Rose?”

“Yeah. Our Caprica Nights connection.” He grinned. “Could have been…” his voice trailed off, staring at her deep blush and making the connection. “Frak.”

“We all have secrets in our past.” Laura sighed. “Or not so secret pasts. I guess since the parties the other night…”

“You? Were Rose?” He frowned, thinking. “But you’d only have been…” his voice trailed off.

“How do you think I feel.” Bill winced, “I found out when they dragged her onto the bar during her bachelorette party.”

“On the bar?” Cottle blinked again as Laura’s blush deepened even further.

“So.” She cleared her throat. “Um, how’s Galen? And Hot Dog…”

“Both with someone. Galen still sees Nicky, he’s overseeing the construction of wind powered generators at some of the larger settlements.” He took a sip of the coffee. “Hot Dog, well, he’s farming now, doing well. Has a plot next to Sharon and Helo. Turned out to be a good father to Nicky, and Tyrol still comes by to visit when he’s in the area.”

“Good.” Laura sighed and looked at Bill. “We should tell him. Just in case.”

Bill nodded slowly. “I agree.” As they both turned to look at Cottle, who was eying them curiously, he sighed. “Sherman, I need your oath on this. For now.”

Cottle frowned slightly, looking from one to the other. “I suppose.”

“A few weeks ago,” Laura began softly. “We were out riding in the woods. We came across some…settlers. That don’t wish to join the main community at this point of time.”

“Not for everyone.” He shrugged. “So they staying out there?”

“For now.” Bill nodded. “They help us with the horses, Zak worked on a cabin for them. We’re fine with having them around…”

“What are they, escaped criminals?” He shook his head. “Out with it Admiral. You and Madame President here never cut corners in giving me news.”

They exchanged another glance before Bill continued. “Very well. It’s Natalie and Boomer. Haven’t seen any others, neither have they. Both ended up sacrificing themselves for the survival of the fleet, one way or another…”

“Cylons?” He blinked at them. “Here? But…”

“Can’t explain it.” Bill tightened his grip on Laura’s hand. “Zak, Kara, Billy…a couple of people know about it. But not many. For obvious reasons.”
“You think?” Cottle absently took a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. “Don’t worry, not going to light it. How are they?”

“Nervous, but fine.” Laura sighed softly. “Obviously worried about being exposed. Too many people know who they are.”

“Not worried about their proximity?” He gestured, “never mind, of course not. They wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

“Natalie sacrificed herself for what she believed could be the greater right, and Boomer, in the end…” Bill shrugged. “Well, we trust them. Possibly more than they trust themselves.”

“When you come back, we’d like you to meet them.” Laura added.

“I’d like that. Like to see Natalie again, Boomer, well…I’ll see.” He winced. “Didn’t think I’d ever have the opportunity again.”

“Neither did we.” Laura shifted slightly, leaning into Bill. “You can imagine our surprise. Our parents know about them, but don’t know that they’re Cylons…were Cylons?” She glanced up at Bill. “How does that work anyway?”

“Don’t know.” Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he absently started playing with her hair. “But, for now, we’ll keep their secret.”

Cottle shook his head. “Natalie, not a problem. Boomer? How many times is she going to show up?”

“Well, this would be it.” Bill grinned.

“Point made.” Glancing out the window, Cottle sighed. “Rain looks like it’s stopped for a bit, I should head on out.”

“I’m glad you came by.” Laura unwrapped herself from Bill’s loose embrace as Cottle stood. “You’ll let us know as soon as you’re back?”

“And keep in touch until then?” Bill added.

“Yeah.” He wrapped his arm around Laura as she led them toward the door. “Quite a few people I want to catch up with around here. Might stop off and see some others though on my travels. I’ll be back though.”

“Good.” Pausing inside the door, Laura impulsively hugged him. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too.” He grinned over her shoulder at Bill. “You too. However, it was quite a bit calmer without one or the other of you frequenting my door for a while.”

“You missed it and you know it.” Laura teased, kissing his cheek. “Be careful out there.”

“I will.” Releasing her, he held his hand out to Bill. “See you soon?”

“You better.” Bill nodded as Laura opened the door, shivering at the cool breeze. “You going to be all right out there?”

“I’ll be fine.” One side of his mouth curved up. “Downright balmy compared to New Caprica, isn’t it Madame President.”

“Laura.” She corrected with a giggle. “And yes, at least we know the rain won’t last forever here.”

“Gods willing.” Pulling his jacket on, Cottle grinned at them. “Well, now that you’ve had food and a break, I’ll let you two get back to the honeymoon.”

“You were worth the break.” Snuggling into Bill’s side against the cold, Laura smiled. “Thanks for lunch.”

“We’ll talk to you soon.” Bill chuckled as Cottle stepped outside. “Travel well.”

“Stay inside.” He grinned at them. “And look at it this way, with the cold and rain, no one will want to bother you out here anyway.”

“True.” As Cottle strode down the steps with a final wave, Bill tightened his grip on Laura as they waved back. When she rested her head against his chest, he glanced down. “You okay?”

“I am.” Eyes closed, Laura sighed softly. “No, don’t close the door just yet.”

Bill frowned slightly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Her lips twitched slightly. “New Caprica. This was what I wanted. Not just the cabin, but you holding me, against the cold and rain.”

“Ah.” Bill turned slightly, obligingly tightening his arms around her.

“We…Sherman and I, we used to meet for afternoon tea once or twice a week.” Laura murmured against his chest. “He’d tell me stories about you, well they were about Galactica, or about other ships you’d been on…he called it letting me know more about the fleet. But, he was really reassuring me that you’d be there for me. Both before the invasion, and after.” Her hand ran up his chest to rest on his shoulder. “He’ll be back.”

“I know.” He kissed the top of her head, then when she lifted her face, her mouth. When they finally broke apart, he moved his lips toward her ear. “Want me to make a fire in the fireplace upstairs?”

“Mmm.” Laura smiled. “Yes. You go do that, I’ll finish cleaning up in the kitchen and be up in a few minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He nipped at her lips again before releasing her.

“See you upstairs.” Stepping back, she lifted an eyebrow. “And remember, you still need to figure out where the red is that I’m wearing…”