Work Text:
Title: Blood
Author: deepforestowl
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Characters: Jack Cottle/William Adama/ Laura Roslin
Prompt: 011 Red
Word Count: 2779
Rating: PG 13
Pairing: Adama/Cottle with ARC thrown in at the end
Spoilers: Through season 3
Disclaimer: Moore's the man with the master plan.
Summary: Cottle checks on Adama after the boxing match.
Note: This is a sort of continuation piece from my AR MOL II piece, Balance, found on July 1st on the Adama_roslin comm. On LJ.
Jack Cottle checked his watch. It was about time to check on Bill. Like just about every person in authority, Admiral Adama would rather suffer in silence then spend any amount of time in sickbay. Jack tried not take it personally. He had learned long before he was assigned to the Galactica how to handle command staff when it came to injuries. So, while Jack would have preferred to keep Bill in sickbay overnight for observation, Jack was pulling a late nighter catching up on paperwork waiting for time to pass so he could go check on the fleet's military leader in his quarters where he was hopefully still asleep. Jack was sure that Bill knew that this was Jack's way of handling him. Every time Bill got hurt, Jack would release him from sickbay once his life was out of danger but would then make a pest of himself until Bill was truly mended and not just patched. It was Jack's way of watching over the man and Jack had to admit, it was his petty revenge as well. After all, Jack's ideal day was when no one came to sickbay at all. There weren't very many ideal days.
All that said, Jack liked a good boxing match. Though he wasn't a fan of what boxing did to the body, he liked seeing boxers go at it as a show of strength and cunning. He liked rooting for the underdog. Seeing Bill take a severe beating when they all knew that Bill could have beaten Tyrol into the ground with one arm tied behind his back made Jack want to puke. He had seen blood before. Hell, he practically bathed in it daily, but seeing Bill's face covered in the bright red blood made his heart ache. The blood was on the floor of the boxing ring, on Bill's tanks, and ultimately, on Jack's hands. Not that Jack hadn't seen Bill's blood before, but this time, for all intents and purposes, the blood letting had been on purpose. Bill had let it happen, had even embraced it. Jack knew why Bill had done it, hell he even endorsed it in a way, but it still made him queasy, not that he would ever admit that to anyone, even himself. It wasn't Jack's place to ream out Bill, Jack was sure that Laura had done that for the both of them. Jack shook his head and checked his watch again, time to go check on Bill.
As Jack walked towards Bill's quarters, black bag in hand, he thought about Bill and Laura. He loved them both, not that they noticed. Not that Jack let them notice. More than anything, Jack was aware of the love between the two of them, seemingly unrequited, yes, but it was there nonetheless. Jack wouldn't come between that for all of the morpha and antibiotics in the universe. Jack's position was isolated for the most part. The fleet hated his guts even as they acknowledged that he was the best there was. It was a despairing thought. He often told himself that things like love, romance, hell, even friendship, and something as simple as a caring human touch weren't all that important to him. He had lived a long and fruitful life. The whole fleet was his patient and with his sarcastic attitude, not to mention his smoking habit, well, finding a man or a woman who was even remotely interested would have been a significant chore to say the least. And yet, in the dark of night, when it felt like the red blood of those he cared for, of those young lives that he wasn't able to save, seemed to coat his hands and not wash off, he wished for comfort. He wished to be held, to cry, to scream, to rage against the Gods but there was no relief, no comfort. If there was a place of the damned, this was it. On those nights, Jack didn't leave his office. On those nights, he stayed up late working and drinking and smoking until exhaustion forced him into sleep. Tonight was one of those nights. After he checked on Bill, Jack would make his way back to his office to finish the ever multiplying amounts of paperwork. Bill's blood had been spilt and it had been brutal and yet, it was what the fleet needed. Not that Jack approved of the blood letting and it hurt him deeply to have to stand beside the ring and do nothing. Jack knew that with Bill's atonement, the fleet would finally start to heal from New Caprica, which was a damn good thing cause he was running out of tranquilizers.
Jack sighed as he finally stopped in front of Bill's quarters. Laura had left behind one of her guards to deter anyone from bothering Bill. He nodded to the young man, and opening the hatch, slipped into the semi darkness of Bill's quarters. Laura had left his desk light on for Jack, she of all people knew that Jack would be visiting Bill at some point in the night. Bill was still sleeping in his rack, a good sign. Jack approached quietly and put his bag down on the floor. He leaned over and started examining the bandages on Bill's face. Bill's eyes snapped open in a panic but Jack soothed him with a shhh and a "It's just me." Bill made a motion to get up, but Jack put his hand on Bill's chest to keep him down. "I'm just here to check on you Bill, go back to sleep." Bill nodded and lay back against the pillows once more, his ribs aching. Closing his eyes, Bill felt Jack change his dressings with a surprising amount of tenderness. Jack discarded the rust red bandages on the floor and taking a wet wipe, he cleaned up some of the dried blood on Bill's face, in a mirror movement of Laura's only a few hours ago. After cleaning Bill up some more, Jack lightly rebandaged the facial wounds and then went to check on the ribs. Bill woofed a little when Jack hit a tender spot.
Bill watched Jack through half open eyes as Jack checked him over. Bill could see the slight tremble in Jack's hands, especially because Jack wasn't aware that Bill was watching him through slit open eyes. What he saw in Jack's eyes worried him. Bill had known about Jack's affection for quite sometime. Jack had never said anything, but he didn't have to. His eyes said everything for him, you just had to read him right. Hell, Bill even returned Jack's feelings on some level, but Jack was Bill's subordinate though that probably didn't matter much anymore and then there was the tangled mess with Laura. But something in Jack's eyes told Bill that Jack needed reassurance and comfort. If it had been anyone else, Bill knew that no one would have noticed Jack's distress. Stilling Jack's hand with his own, Bill looked Jack in the eyes, "I'm ok, Jack." Jack squeezed Bill's hand and his eyes filled with tears. Jack nodded and looked away.
Bill thought for a moment and then he slowly and somewhat painfully shifted closer to the wall. Jack turned bright red with shame and made to get up and leave but Bill didn't release his hand. "Come here." Bill whispered. Jack looked at him in confusion but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes, "Are you sure" Bill nodded, "My heart belongs to you both. You need this Jack. This might not happen again for a long time but now, in this moment, there is time for some comfort." Jack's throat closed up and he choked out, "Thank you."
Bill released Jack's hand and Jack stood up. He undid his uniform jacket it and took it off. Tossing it on top of his bag, he also unlaced his boots and toed them off. Bill watched Jack with some interest, but his ribs hurt and he was sleepy more than anything else. He stretched out his arm along the pillows as he lay flat on his back. As Jack got into the rack, he settled himself close to Bill. Laying his head on Bill's shoulder, Jack breathed in the comforting scent of Bill. Jack longed to throw an arm around Bill's chest, but he didn't dare because of Bill's tender ribs, instead, Jack tucked his arms between their bodies. Jack felt Bill turn his head and a moment later, he felt a kiss on the top of his head. Bill's arm that Jack was resting on, came up and rubbed his back a little. Jack trembled and though he made no sound, Bill knew that he was crying. After a short time, Jack settled down to Bill's soft words and comforting presence. Soon, Jack's breathing evened out indicating that he was asleep. Bill nuzzled Jack one more time, before he too drifted off.
Hours passed.
Early in the morning, Laura quietly entered Bill's quarters. She stopped short when she saw that Bill wasn't alone. Her first inclination was hurt and then fury, but when she saw the black bag and the white head, she rethought her reaction. She quietly approached the bed. Bill was snoring softly and if she wasn't mistaken, Jack was drooling on his shoulder. Sometime during the night, Bill had rotated slightly towards Jack and Jack's arm was resting on the center of Bill's chest. Laura heartily wished that Bill's rack was big enough for the three of them. Instead, she perched on the very edge at the crook of Jack's drawn up knees. Bill was aware of her presence first. He opened his eyes, knowing that someone was watching him. He saw her and shot her a questioning glance. She smiled and tapped her watch. He nodded ever so slightly. He watched as Laura reached out and laid a hand on Jack's hip, trailing it around the curve and up his back, her hand encountering Bill's and clasped together, they lightly rubbed Jack's back. Bill kissed Jack's head once more and Jack grumbled and opened his eyes.
Whatever nurse was bothering him in the middle of this really great dream where he was in Bill Adama's arms was going to get bed pan duty for the rest of their lives. Only, it wasn't a nurse, it was Bill and Laura who were waking him and this wasn't a dream, he really had spent the night in Bill's arms. Jack's face shown like the sun for a moment before he locked this away in his heart because he knew it would probably never happen again. But it was too late, Bill and Laura had seen it. Jack turned an interesting shade of red and made to get out of bed, but they held him there. Bill looked at Jack, "Are you ok?" Jack couldn't meet his eyes. He mumbled that he was fine. Bill and Laura exchanged a worried look and Laura nodded her head. Reaching over for Bill with her free hand, Laura pushed Jack's head up so that he was looking into Bill's eyes. Bill leaned forward and gently kissed Jack. It was a feather light kiss that started gentle but as Jack responded it turned somewhat heated. After a moment they broke apart before it could get too impassioned. Jack's eyes darted towards Laura, she smiled and leaned down and kissed him as well. Whereas Bill's kiss had been firm with a banked passion, Laura's kiss was all fire. Desire hung heavy in the air.
Laura and Jack broke apart. Laura smiled at them both, "Gentlemen, we have duties to attend to. Shall we?" Jack laughed a little, something he hadn't done in far too long, "Yes ma'am." Laura stood and Jack rolled out of bed. Together, Jack and Laura helped Bill get ready for his day. Jack checked over Bill's injuries and once everyone was presentable, the three stood before each other. They came together in a three way hug, Laura and Jack lightly supporting Bill. Jack spoke first, "I'm sorry for invading your relationship like this." Laura cupped his cheek with her hand but it was Bill who spoke, "The future is uncertain my friend but there has always been respect, affection, and even love between us." Laura continued, "Maybe we should consider fanning this red ember into a flame." Jack smiled, "What would that look like I wonder?" Bill, a gleam in his eye that said there would be trouble, murmured, "We'll scandalize the fleet but then, when aren't we?" Jack ginned. "In that case, I will come back tonight and personally change your dressings. Care to play nurse, Laura?" Laura laughed and said yes much to Bill's blushing chagrin. Joking aside, they split up to go to their respective duties but Jack couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the three of them, if anything happened at all.
He knew, without a doubt that Bill and Laura loved each other to a degree that you only read about in story books. In another time and another place, maybe the three of them could have been lovers, but now? Now, he wasn't so sure. Jack strengthened his resolve as he made his way to sickbay. He had had a moment of weakness and they had accepted him and comforted him with their own passion. Tonight, he would be back to his grouchy and cantankerous self. His heart beat red with love and passion and blood, but he was damned if he was going to get in between Bill and Laura. Theirs was a different path.