DISCLAIMER: Battlestar Galactica is the property of Glen A. Larson, Ron Moore, David Eick Sci-Fi Channel, R & D TV, Sky and NBC Universal.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SPOILERS: For episode 4x06 "Faith".
BETA: Kore
Love
By Olli
"If I have to, I gonna frak that bitch," Jean Baroly spat angrily. She looked around in the cave that was the HQ of the New Caprica resistance, but got only a few approving nods from the members of the organization that were gathered for their usual evening meeting. The former Colonel Tigh narrowed his eyes at her and Jean waited for him to speak.
"What bitch?" Tigh asked. Jean had already ranted about 'that bitch' before he had arrived.
"The Six I'm working with at the water treatment plant." Jean replied looking steadily in the one eye that had been left to the man after his imprisonment by the Cylons.
"And why would you do that?" Tigh asked. On one hand the idea of frakking a Cylon was clearly a sexual perversion, but on the other hand it could gain the resistance some advantages, if they could use the skin-job as a source for information. Of course that would mean they couldn't carry out the plan of introducing poison into the pipes to Cylon headquarters they had been thinking about.
Jean hesitated for a second. But she knew that she couldn't lie about the reason. "Yesterday that bitch kissed me."
Surprised Tigh blinked, that was the last thing he had expected.
One of the men gave a wolf whistle and grinned.
"What?" Jean asked glaring hotly at the man.
The man shrugged. "You have to admit that they look hot. Back on Pegasus…"
"I'm not a frakking Toaster Lover," Jean hissed. She left her place leaning against the wall and marched over to the still grinning man. She pushed him into the wall and shot another killer glare at him. The grin faded from his face. "I don't give a frakking shit about what you did on Pegasus with the toaster. Don't you ever dare call me a Cylon Lover," she said in a dangerously low voice through gritted teeth.
The man lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. "Okay," he said. "Sorry."
Jean gave an approving grunt and stalked back to her place at the wall. "I know that the people in the camp will call me a Toaster Lover, but I'm not. As soon as Galactica is back and we're off of this frakking dirt ball, I want all of you to tell everyone why I did it," she said to no one particular.
Tigh had observed the whole scene without saying a word. He knew that a deep-rooted hatred of the Toasters, if channeled in the right direction, could be a valuable asset. The hate would keep Jean focused if she went through with this. A Cylon who wasn't part of the inner circle of Colonial One might be used in a more risky way. Hopefully, no one would suspect a low level Cylon of being under control of the resistance. "Okay," he said. "Go on. But if you do it, I expect you to go all the way. Lure the Cylon into trusting you and then milk it."
"Okay," Jean nodded at him.
Gwen ran along the gangway above the cesspools of the New Caprica Water Treatment Plant some hundred meters outside of the settlement. The blond No. Six Cylon held her head down because of the pouring rain. In her opinion the constantly foul weather was one of the most offending characteristics of this planet. She headed for the small building that contained an office and the pump station to provide fresh water to the settlement. The office and processing building was surrounded by different pools for the different stages of the water treatment.
Arriving at the building, Gwen pushed the door open and stumbled into the small room shaking the water from her hair. Looking around she registered that she was the first one there – as usual. Jean Barolay had been assigned to her shortly after the Cylons' arrival on the planet and not a single day had the human arrived on time. Hanging her soaked coat on a hook on the wall, Gwen loaded the coffee machine and switched it on before stepping to the back of the office. The entire wall was covered with indicators framing a door that led to the pumping machinery. Taking a clip board Gwen scribbled down the readouts. It was their job to provide clean water to every person on this planet, but Jean was no great help. Sighing she put the clipboard on her desk and poured some coffee before sitting down. First thing every day she compared the new data with the data from yesterday. Sipping from her mug she placed the sheets of paper before her and took a pencil.
Jean was on her way to the office. When the rain had stopped a few minutes ago she had left her tent to walk to the facility. There was no reason to hurry; she knew the skin-job would be there on time as usual. As disgusting as the machine having the hots for her was, it also had one positive effect; the Cylon had never reported her for being consistently late.
Yesterday, anger had boiled inside her after the skin-job kissed her. It had turned into a coldness that lay like an icy lump in her stomach. She had tried everything to get rid of the sick feeling: playing a hard game of Pyramid until her friends had told her to stop, running around the settlement until she couldn't run anymore. Finally, she had focused on different ways of humiliating the Six just to give herself a sense of power and control.
After the evening meeting with the resistance, Jean had spent half the night thinking. For a while she wondered if she had given the Cylon some signal, if the kiss was somehow her fault. The skin-job had tried to be friendly and engage Jean in conversation; she couldn't deny that. Sometimes Jean had even responded, but she had not invited the kiss. How could she have? The skin-job couldn't or wouldn't see that they had brought misery and despair to the humans for a second time, and if you count the first Cylon war, a third time. All she had talked about was the new start they had here on New Caprica. Then there were other things that had annoyed Jean, like the Cylon's clothes and the coffee she drank every day. The Cylon wore boots, jeans, a shirt and a jacket as work clothes, but they were pristine every day. Jean had to struggle just to get enough soap to wash the smell of the cesspools from her hair every evening. The coffee the Cylon generously shared with the human. However, since the New Caprican climate was not suited for coffee plants, the Cylons had to ship it in from the Colonies making it just another painful reminder of mankind's lost home.
In the end Jean had come to a conclusion. The skin-jobs, trying to show off their superiority, did what they had always done: they took, like they had taken the colonies; they destroyed, like they had destroyed the cities and they raped, like they had raped her friends in the farms on Caprica.
Seeing the building ahead, Jean quickened her pace.
Gwen filed away the records and leaned back in her seat, sighing again. Jean was late even for her standards. Gwen began to wonder; maybe it had been wrong to kiss the human. She hadn't planned it. Yesterday they had worked side by side for a while in the pump room and by chance had come so close together that their shoulders touched. Gwen had felt the warmth radiating from the human's body and without thinking she had leaned to the side and pressed her lips to the human's. Jean's body had stiffened immediately. The next moment the human had stepped back with an expression of anger and disgust that had been like a slap in the face. Before Gwen had been able to say anything, the human had turned on her heel and left. Gwen hadn't seen Jean since. She hoped Jean would turn up soon. She didn't know if she could cover for her absence any longer.
Gwen took another sip of coffee. She knew that the humans had a lot of reasons to hate the Cylons. Sometimes she wondered if, instead of wiping out whole colonies, an attack against military targets would have been the better choice. Gwen didn't feel responsible for the decision of an all out attack because she had been born afterwards. Yet she had seen the destruction her people had caused and the empty cities filled only with the sough of the wind and the echo of the marching centurions had left her with an unpleasant feeling. That had been the reason she had agreed to the plan of the war heroes, Caprica and Boomer, to try a new way to approach the humans. It had been her reason to volunteer to work with humans in the water treatment plant. Gwen wanted to show them that Cylons were willing to do the dirty jobs to make up for what they had done.
Unfortunately she had started to wonder what it would be like to have sex with a human. She had wondered if it would make her feel different to look into a face that was not an exact copy of her own when she sent her partner over the edge - if a human would taste different, react differently? Despite the long time she had spent with Jean here in this office she didn't know much about her or about humans in general. Jean had refused to go into personnel details about her life and walking through the camp would be suicide. Gwen had tried to break the ice, but couldn't seem to. Since she had become curious about having sex with a human, Jean had been her first choice. Jean was definitely attractive. She was the only human she worked with on a daily basis and had never shown outright hostility toward her – only reluctance. Gwen was sure over time she could get through to her. It's just that yesterday she had acted without thinking. Even now Gwen couldn't say why she had done it – if she had only taken some more time. Maybe in a few weeks Jean would have welcomed the kiss.
She wondered if she should apologize.
Jean opened the door and entered the office. The skin job sitting at her desk looked up and smiled.
"Morning," Gwen greeted her.
"Morning," Jean hung her jacket on a hook. She breathed and turned around. Slowly, she walked to the small sideboard where the coffee maker was settled while making sure that the Cylon had a good view of her breasts. She had asked a friend for a t-shirt one size too small. Because she wore no bra her nipples were prominently poking at the shirt. Pretending to ignore the skin job, she took a mug, poured some coffee and shoveled sugar into it. Finally she sat down at her desk, head to head with that of the Cylon. Lazily stirring her coffee, she nodded at the wall of instruments, "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, no changes since yesterday, no alarms" Gwen replied and forced her eyes to look at her empty desk. There was no other word than seductive that came to her mind for Jean's choice of clothes. The t-shirt revealed more of Jean's body than she had ever seen. She wondered if her breasts would feel as firm as they looked. Gwen pondered the reason for the human's sudden provocative appearance. Either it was a coincidence or it had to do with the kiss. Gwen didn't believe in coincidence. There was one disturbing possibility; some humans had chosen to gain advantage by becoming involved with a Cylon: to help detained loved ones or to get luxury items. Even some of the New Caprica Police seemed more interested in profiteering. Would Jean do that? Could she be genuinely interested in Gwen? Until now she had never shown any sign of being interested, even in the smallest way.
"Good," Jean replied, registering how the skin job had looked at her breasts before she had looked down.
Gwen cleared her throat. "Okay, uhm. Before we do anything else we have to check the filter system. Doc Cottle reports some people with gastrointestinal disease," she said while looking directly into the human's eyes.
The redhead sipped her coffee while laying out a plan in her head. Holding the mug with both hands, she peered over the rim at the Cylon. The idea she was contemplating had been stuck in her head since yesterday evening. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that it would work. She couldn't just pretend that she had fallen head over heels in love with the blonde. She had to stick as close as possible to the truth. Jean put the mug down, shifted slightly in the chair and leaned back a little.
Grabbing her own mug Gwen looked closely at the human. She was now convinced that Jean was trying to seduce her. There was no reason to feign timidity anymore.
"Like what you see?" Jean asked smiling.
Gwen nodded. "Yup."
"I've thought about the kiss." Jean took another sip from her coffee. "I wonder if you want to kiss me again."
"Well, that depends."
"On what?"
"If you want me to kiss you again."
Jean blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected the skin-job to show signs of decency. At least she hoped it was decency and not some kind of sick foreplay to rape. "And if I say 'yes'?"
"Then I would ask 'why'."
Jean frowned. The skin-job didn't make it easy for her. "I thought we could make a deal."
"What kind of a deal?"
Jean breathed heavily and looked the Cylon directly in the eyes. "Yesterday evening I searched for a piece of soap in my tent. I didn't find any. I had to ask three different people before I got some to wash the stench of the cesspools from my body. You are the nicest Cylon I know, and the only one who's made a move on me. So I figured if you want me you can have me – if I get something back."
Gwen sat back in her chair. She knew the stench well enough. Because of it she soaked in a hot tub every evening. It was something she looked forward to every day. She had never had to think about getting soap. They had tones of soap in bars and liquid: moisturizing soap and soap with different fragrances. "If its just soap you want, you don't have to sleep with me."
"I don't want pity. If you give me something, I give back what I can," Jean replied.
Gwen looked baffled. Unexpectedly it occurred to Jean that the skin-job actually meant what she had said.
Until now Gwen had only heard about such deals. It was nothing less than prostitution. On the other hand, it was a tempting offer. It wasn't like she was forcing the human into something. "You want this? I mean, if it is only about soap and stuff like that, I say again - you don't have to sleep with me."
"I want it."
Gwen rose from her chair and walked around the two desks until she was right beside Jean. She leaned against the edge of the desk placing her hands down beside her hips. Gwen looked directly at the human.
Jean knew it was time for business and could only hope that the desk was not too hard. She rose and stepped right in front of the blonde. Her heart hammered in her chest. She took hold of the border of her t-shirt, lifting it, but was surprised as the Cylon rose from the desk and placing a hand on hers.
Gwen looked Jean sternly in the eyes. "You can walk away whenever you want. No hard feelings."
Suddenly the redhead felt a tingle in her belly. She simply nodded. Her eyes grew wide as the Cylon took hold of her waist and drew her firmly against her. Jean swallowed as she felt the blonde's thigh pressing against her center. Gwen shifted slightly, increasing the pressure and Jean heard herself moan. She could do nothing to stop the wave of heat that flashed through her body - according to her mission, she shouldn't stop it. Only now she realized, she didn't want to.
Gwen had closed her eyes to enjoy the feelings coursing through her body. Her hips began to move rhythmically as she lowered her head and captured the human's lips. This time Jean kissed her back and Gwen's mouth opened as she felt the human's tongue brush against her lips.
Jean's body seemed to react of its own volition, stunned, she realized that her tongue explored the Cylon's mouth. When their tongues met, Jean moaned again. She surrendered to another wave of pleasure. Her body pressed tightly against the blonde and she fell into the rhythm of the Cylon's hips.
Gwen felt heat overwhelming her body and knew she was getting close. She pulled back, breaking the kiss. "Wait," she whispered hoarsely.
Jean needed a moment to catch her breath. "What?"
"I don't want it this way," Gwen replied still catching her breath.
Jean rested her forehead against the other woman's. "How else do you want it," she said quietly. "I can't go with you to your quarters. The people in the camp would know I'm frakking a Cylon; my life would be Hades. And at the end of work the both of us will stink." Jean took a step back taking the blonde's hands and smiled. "So, now is the time."
Gwen nodded. She could understand Jean's concern about the reaction of the other humans. The resistance was after all collaborators. "What do you have in mind?"
Jean let go of the Cylon's hands and locked the door to the office, then she lowered the blinds over the windows. Turning to the Cylon with a raised eyebrow and mischievous smile she asked. "Gwen, would you clear the desks?"
The blonde grinned. "Of course."
Half a minute later, Jean spread a woolen blanket over the desks. She hopped onto it pulling off her shoes and socks. She laid back and quirked another eyebrow at the Cylon. "Now?"
The blonde kicked off her shoes while pulling off her shirt. Trousers and socks came off together. Clad only in panties and bra she climbed on top of the desk. Straddling Jean's hips, she leaned down and captured her lips again.
Jean writhed and moaned as the buttons of her trousers were popped open, one after the other. Gwen's lips began a trail down her body, intent on savoring another type of kiss.
A few months later…
Jean was sprawled between the crumpled sheets of Gwen's bed, satisfied and relaxed after an evening of passionate love making. They had been able to hide their relationship for only a few weeks before people in the camp learned of it. After the first beating, Jean had moved into the Cylon Headquarters on New Caprica to share quarters with Gwen. Because of that, life had indeed come to resemble the underworld. Harassment from other colonists made forwarding the information she got from Gwen to the resistance much more difficult. But that would only last a few days longer. They had already established contact with Galactica and a plan to free the people was in the works. Knowing this, a thought had troubled her. What would happen to Gwen? Over the last few months a connection between them had evolved. Gwen had never done any harm to her, had even defended her against cruel comments from the other Cylons. Jean couldn't deny it; she had come to like the blonde Cylon.
As she heard the shower in the bathroom, she quickly left the bed and sat down in front of her lover's computer. It had taken her a while to figure out the access code, but since she had, gathering information for the resistance had become easy. She quickly scrolled through the files until she found the one she was searching for. Thirty seconds later she had memorized the location of the launch keys to fire up the FTL-drives of the grounded ships. She logged out of the system and hopped back into bed. Snuggling comfortably between the sheets, she waited for her lover to finish her shower.
A few minutes later, Gwen exited the bathroom not bothering to wear any clothes. Jean turned her head to admire the beauty of the blonde while she crossed the distance to the bed and sat down beside her. Reaching out, Gwen slowly trailed her hand down Jean's spine and finally lowering her head to place a kiss on the redhead's neck.
Jean turned onto her back revealing herself to the blonde. Enticingly, she caressed Gwen's thigh.
"You should go and shower. We have to get up early tomorrow," the blonde said smiling.
Jean nodded. "Yeah." She sat up and kissed Gwen, then rose from the bed and headed for the bathroom.
As soon as Jean closed the door, Gwen sat at her computer and logged in. Opening the security program she had recently installed, she learned within seconds what files her lover had accessed. Nodding, she logged out and slipped back under the covers.
Jean took her time showering. She knew that in a few days it would all be over. Either she would be back on Galactica or she would be dead. The redhead didn't know the exact plans of the resistance for freeing the people, but she was sure that the Cylon headquarters was a main target. She actually shouldn't care about what fate awaited Gwen, but she did. She had learned of Gwen's sense of humor, about her dreams and her reasons for working at the water treatment plant. Jean realized that Gwen was still the enemy, but the idea of letting her be killed just didn't feel right. She had to find a way to make sure Gwen would be safe during the insurrection. Sighing Jean stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry. She wondered if she could bring up the subject without giving herself away.
Finally Jean left the bathroom and got into bed. Gwen shifted until she spooned her from behind holding her lover securely. Jean intertwined their fingers, closed her eyes and tried to relax. But sleep wouldn't come to her and after twenty minutes she gave up. Caressing the back of Gwen's hand with her thump she took a deep breath. "Gwen?"
"Mmmmh?"
"Can you manage to stay at the water treatment plant for a few days?" When the Cylon didn't answer immediately Jean started to shift, but Gwen held her firmly.
Finally, the Cylon thought. Since she had caught the redhead on her computer she knew that Jean must be with the resistance; that the whole relationship was a set-up. "Galactica's coming, right?" The blonde felt her lover stiffen and knew that she was right.
"How do you know?" Jean whispered confirming both the blonde's suspicions.
"A few weeks ago I saw you hacking into my computer. I was in the bathroom, by accident I left the door open," Gwen replied. Back then it had torn her heart apart. She had been sure that Jean felt something for her. She was already on her way to Cavil to report Jean when she saw two members of the NCP beating a human into bloody pulp. She stopped them and turned back. Before she would surrender Jean to such a fate, she wanted to know if the redhead had faked everything or if there was something more.
"So you didn't mistrust me?" Jean asked still shocked.
"Until then? No." Gwen inhaled the scent of Jean's hair.
"But you didn't turn me in."
"No. I don't want you to get killed."
"Thank you," Jean whispered.
Gwen squeezed her lovers hand gently.
"I don't want you to either," the redhead replied.
"Then I'll see that I stay at the plant for the next few days." Gwen wondered at how easily she could agree to this. The return of Galactica would mean the death of Cylons and certainly of humans – it would mean that in a few days Jean would be off this planet. She may never see Jean again and yet she would risk all this to protect her.
"You want me to leave?" Jean asked.
Gwen remained silent so long that Jean took it for an answer and started to move, but the blonde held her in place.
"No." Gwen was sure that this was the last night they would spend together.
Jean felt tears swell up in her eyes as soft lips brushed over her bare shoulder.
Epilogue
They had arrived at the rebel basestar a few hours ago and Jean was still astonished at the events the Cylons had reported. She wasn't sure if this alliance would work, but as long as she was aboard the basestar, she had a chance to work something out for herself. Jean felt curious glances from the Cylons and the humans alike as she approached an Eight in the hangar bay. "Hi," she greeted her and smiled.
"Hi," the Eight said frowning skeptically.
Jean shifted uncomfortably and rubbed her neck. "Uhm, back on New Caprica there was a Six. Her name was Gwen. She worked with me at the water treatment plant. I would like to know if she's aboard."
The Eight's expression only turned more distrustful. "Why would you want to know that?"
Jean looked the Eight square in the eyes. "We were involved. I want to know if she's alright."
The Eight stared as if astonished, but then she turned to a cylon-style computer console. Dipping her hand into the gooey mass of the access port, her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment. Jean observed the whole process baffled. The Eight withdrew her hand from the port and looked at the human. "She's here."
Jean's eyes grew wide. "Really?"
The Eight nodded. "Yes."
"And where can I find her?"
The Eight wiped her hand on a towel. "I sent her a message. She'll come down here."
Jean couldn't help but smile at the Eight. "Great. Thank you."
Shaking her head the Eight turned away. As far as she could remember, never before had a human smiled at her.
Nervously Jean turned to look at the huge dark arc that marked the entrance to the hangar and waited. A few minutes later a tall blonde Cylon appeared. Jean tried to swallow down the lump that suddenly stuck in her throat.
Gwen entered the hangar not knowing why the Eight had summoned her. She quickly got the feeling that someone was watching her. She scanned through the huge cavernous room.
Jean stared at her former lover unable to move. Her throat became dry.
Finally Gwen spotted a slim human female; her heart skipped a beat as she recognized Jean Barolay. She stood rooted to the spot as the human started moving toward her.
Almost instinctively Jean's feet moved towards the blonde. Her heart hammered in her chest. Just one step away from the Cylon she stopped. She didn't know what to say. She swallowed once again and finally croaked, "Hi."
Gwen's heart had started to beat again. "Hi," she managed.
Jean breathed deeply and smiled. "I'm glad you're alive. I hope you've been alright."
Gwen stared at her human lover. She opened her mouth, but then closed it without speaking.
Jean felt her heart clenching as the blonde didn't respond. "I'm sorry," she whispered and started to turn away. Suddenly Gwen moved and grabbed her head with both hands. Jean felt herself pulled into a firm yet soft body, and then Gwen's lips were on hers.
The few members of Starbuck's team stood rooted to the spot as they saw a blonde Cylon kissing Jean senseless. Even more astonishing, Jean was obviously kissing the Cylon back, burying her hands in the blonde's hair.
Gwen broke the kiss and whispered into her lover's ear. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Jean just grinned goofily.
"You want to come with me to my quarters?" Gwen asked in a hoarse voice.
"You bet." As Gwen dragged her from the hangar she yelled over her shoulder at her friends. "Don't wait for me, guys. We have our own negotiating to do."
The End