Author: Ivy
Beta: Scribewraith and Obake
Pairing: Gaius/Gaeta
Rating: NC-17
Challenge: 17: Gaius discovers a way to interfere with the chip Six implanted into his brain.
Disclaimer: BSG is owned by a lot of people, not us (R&D TV, Sky TV and USA Cable Entertainment LLC, Ron Moore and Glen Larson). This fic is written for pleasure, not profit.
Author Notes:
***
There's a light rush of air as the door closes behind him. Gaius sighs heavily, closes his eyes for a moment and then checks the room for her. He presses his hands into the cold polymer bench. Humanities' survivors were locked in a harsh, unnatural prison. He longs for the quiet sanctuary of his Caprica home. He misses sitting outside by the lake; breathing in the fresh mountain air. Instead he stares at the wall of his quarters in Galactica. He has no windows here, but there is nothing to look at anyway, stargazing holds no interest for him.
The other survivors from the colonies described the cylon ships like falling stars plummeting to the ground. He did not witness the destruction of his home. He had been distracted.
Her fingers thread through his hair. Her hot breath ghosts his cheek. She is not really there. His senses lie to him. He responds with the desperation of a man drowning. He clutches her and in turn she cages him with her body. Perhaps protecting him. Perhaps claiming ownership. Inhuman strength holds his fragile skull as she leads the kiss. Her body tightens around and over him. He has a sudden idea of how he might look at this moment to the outside observer. A man miming the acts of lust with an imaginary lover. She nips him with her teeth. He tumbles into bliss, letting it distract him from the burning guilt that he can't shake.
Again he is alone. He must do something. The thought has been plaguing him since he first heard of the military installation. It would be almost impossible to recreate that kind of atmosphere but he prided himself in his ability to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He doesn't want to be her tool any longer.
Gaius thinks he has the Lieutenant's measure. Lieutenant Gaeta studied science at university but he has ended up in the military, maybe through family obligations or perhaps paying off his tuition fees. He has ended up an officer but his intellect demands more stimulation.
He seeks out the Lieutenant when he is off duty and away from the Commander's watchful eyes. Gaeta is polishing the brass buttons on his dress uniform jacket with zealous precision. It is easy to get the Lieutenant to agree to aid Gaius in his new project. The Lieutenant's eagerness to tackle a something challenging is obvious. His near worshipful respect helps too.
"Gaius," she says.
Gaeta doesn't look up from his intense reading of the text Gaius has given him. Gaius doesn't know whether he should be jealous or very grateful that Gaeta cannot hear her. She calls his name again. Laughter is evident in her voice. She finds his efforts in ignoring her funny. She slides her hands under his shirt. He shivers from her touch. His fingers clench on the table before him.
"You are up to something, Gaius," she smiles knowingly and taps his temple with her finger, "I know."
"I know," he breathes.
"Sorry?" Gaeta says.
Gaius starts and valiantly tries not to respond to her wandering hands. "I know this is a little out of bounds from my original orders Lieutenant, but I feel this is a necessary area of investigation." Gaius has always been as quick with his tongue as he is with his mind. "I agree Doctor Baltar, and may I thank you again for asking me to assist you with this project," Gaeta says. He ducks his head in embarrassment. Gaius can't understand why the man can work in such a high stress environment and still be bashful when it comes to simple social niceties.
"You were..." Gaius is distracted by her smirk. "You were the first person that came to mind," he manages. Her fingers trace the inside of his thigh.
"Oh, " she coos, "He's kind of cute. Can we keep him?"
The first experiment is a failure, but then he had expected that. It would take many more attempts to get the device to work. He informed the Lieutenant that they would need to come up with another design. The Lieutenant seemed unfazed and readily offered to do some further research in his next time off duty.
"What will you do if you succeed?" She asks from his bed. She is dressed in some kind of shimmering nightgown. He wonders if it is his mind that suggests these details or hers. "I will probably stop talking to myself and meet some nice human girl," he says buttoning up his shirt.
"A different one every week?"
"Yes," he says. She doesn't look as upset as he thought she would.
"I don't believe you Gaius," she says, "you will miss me and you won't find another girl." She sounds very certain. Gaius tries not to worry.
Gaeta insists that they give the device a name. Gaius grudgingly calls it after his home planet. Using metal sheets and bolts, they'd effectively locked down the laboratory for the first test. The Caprica Device imitates the radioactive atmosphere of Ragnar Station: for now, they do not want the simulated atmosphere to spread any further on the ship.
"I'd hate to see Commander Adama's reaction when he finds out we've been experimenting with a thermonuclear device on his ship," says Gaeta.
Gaius switches the device on. "He'll be more pleased with our success in finding a weapon to fight the cylons," replies Gaius. Lieutenant Gaeta monitors the computer read out, and reports, "all systems are running Doctor."
The Caprica Device begins to hum. Gaeta dutifully reads out the levels and fields. Gaius tunes him out; he can feel that the device is working. The static electricity in the lab has increased. The hair on the back of his arms rises as his skin becomes gooseflesh. The mock cylon, a wireless phone confiscated from one of the civilians, starts to react to the Caprica Device. The strength of its signal collapses and flatlines. "The wireless reads as silent, Dr. Baltar."
Gaius gently runs his fingers over the dormant phone. The cool plastic shell is lifeless but then it already was. The cylons merely imitate life.
"Doctor," Gaeta prompts.
"Yes, yes, it does look like it's worked." Gaius prods the phone with his finger, trying to look unruffled.
"The device has recreated the atmospheric phenomenon with enough accuracy to disrupt the wireless's output signal," states Gaeta. Gaius folds his arms. He still has goosebumps. The device continues to drone in a dull hum.
"Should we continue to test the Caprica device's limits? Or do we inform the Commander of - Doctor Baltar are you all right?"
"More experiments, I think, are needed Lieutenant, " Gaius says. He focuses on her. The way she moves. The scent of her. He hopes to draw her out. He looks over at Gaeta. He has his lips pursed as he waits for Gaius to answer his question in full.
Gaius steps toward Gaeta, mindful to stay within the devices' field, and pulls him into a kiss. Immediately the kiss spirals out of his control. He intended it to be light and closed mouthed but Gaeta responds with a fervour that pushes Gaius to keep pace or be limply passive. Gaius runs his tongue over Gaeta's lips, something she had liked. Gaeta gasps and drops his hands onto Gaius's hips. Gaeta pulls their bodies flush together and begins to rock them. In the back of his mind he finds himself hoping that the device didn't work and that she is here watching this. Gaeta moves the kisses lower, his chin, his neck, his collarbone. Too far, Gaius decides and he grabs the back of Gaeta's neck and pulls him away. The first buttons on his shirt have come undone. Gaius fastens them.
Gaeta stills. He removes his hands from Gaius's hips. "I didn't expect that kind of behaviour from you," he says bitterly. Gaeta tugs at the hem of his shirt. His hands are shaking. Gaius checks all the corners of the lab for her. Nothing. He doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Sorry. What kind?" Gaius asks.
"Everyone in the crew knows, but that's not a reason to kiss me," Gaeta's lips are red from the kiss. "It's very cruel."
Gaeta leaves. Gaius goes to stop him but he hears someone clapping. She is leaning against the lab door applauding him. Her face is blank. He realises he'd stepped out of the device's field. He looks over at the machine. It would be ridiculous to carry it around with him all the time.
"Very ridiculous, Gaius. Perhaps you could tell people it was a giant pacemaker?"
He drops into the chair Gaeta had occupied. It is still warm. He runs his fingers through his hair. She climbs into his lap. She is wearing something made of rubber. It squeaks as she moves. He shudders as she runs one fingernail down his cheekbone.
"Now tell me what you did to make Gaeta so upset," she demands. He feels a moment of triumph. She hadn't seen the kiss.
"You kissed him?" She crosses her legs making the dress creak. "But why would he be upset about that?"
He doesn't know. His hands automatically find her waist. She smiles that secret knowing smile. One last time, he promises himself and falls into the familiar safety of her embrace.
***
The door to Gaeta's room has been locked for some time. Gaius leans against the corridor wall, arms crossed, fingers playing an impatient tattoo on his arms. "He doesn't want to see you," she whispers from behind him.
"His feelings are hurt," she wraps her arms around him.
"You should kiss and make up," she murmurs into his shoulder.
"What?" he says.
She grabs him by the chin. "Do it." She releases him roughly.
"Think of it as gaining an ally, " she says lightly. He blinks once and she has gone. He wonders for how long.
Outside his lab he can hear the hum of the Caprica Device. Gaeta is bent over the computer desk watching the readings. Gaeta is barefoot. His sleeves are rolled up to the elbows. Gaius has to look away.
Gaeta must have seen him in the reflection of the monitor because he turns to the doorway. "The project is too important to abandoned," Gaeta says, "This could give us the advantage over the cylons."
Gaius agrees. He shuts the door to the lab behind him and locks it.
"I always figured you to be a lady's man. I think they call it 'ladykiller'?" Gaeta says.
Gaius opens his mouth and then closes it again. His quick fire wit has left him. "So I see no reason for you to have done that, unless it was to check if I was in fact gay." Gaeta shakes his head. "It's not a secret. You could have just asked."
There is a pause. Gaius knows that this is the moment to he needs to speak but it is lost when Gaeta moves to punch codes into the keyboard.
"What we really should test is the long range capabilities of the Caprica Device. We could render the cylon ships useless in one shot," he says.
Gaius nods but Gaeta doesn't see. He touches Gaeta on the arm. "I'm not a ladykiller," he says. He hasn't been since she came along and changed his world. He does remember all the moves now as he gently trails his hand up Gaeta's arm and leaves it on his shoulder. Gaeta is eyeing him cautiously, waiting to see what he will do.
"I wasn't testing you," he says, sliding closer. Gaius knows the tone of voice to use too. Soft and compelling. Hinting of passion but of tenderness too.
"I simply wanted to kiss you." It's a white lie but he doesn't care especially when it makes Gaeta lower his head with embarrassment.
"I like you," Gaius says. This time it is not a lie. He can taste the truth of his words on his tongue. They are nose to nose. Gaius can hear Gaeta breathing and the galloping beat of his heart in his chest. A bead of sweat runs down Gaeta's temple. Gaius wants to taste it. It would be something heady and real. There would be no false sensory manipulations.
Gaius snakes in to steal another kiss. Gaeta makes a muffled sound, a protest or an exclamation but it doesn't seem to matter because he is kissing Gaeta back without restraint. The wet slide of lips is loud to his ears over the hum of the Caprica device. Gaius is glad to have thought of locking the door to the lab. Gaeta hooks his fingers into Gaius's belt and pulls him closer. This time Gaius lets himself enjoy the warmth. Gaeta gasps for air. He looks Gaius in the eye. He bites his lip. Gaius recognises this. Gaius runs his hands in the nape of Gaeta's neck and kisses his firmly. A confirmation of sorts. Gaeta smiles into the kiss. Gaius can imagine that she'd be smiling too, in that way of hers, if she could see this.