BSG Remix reveals

[lls_mutant]

bsg_remix reveals are up! I'm so excited about how excited everyone seems about the reveals. It was a lot of fun this year, and can I just say, I REALLY enjoyed the way we did it this year? I liked giving people the option to step really, really far out of their comfort zone, or to stay firmly in it. I really hope people had a good time with it.

Okay. Did anyone on my flist not guess that I wrote Fowler's Five Stages and How They Relate To Your Sexual Identity Crisis (The Peanut Gallery Remix)?? I mean, clue #1, it was posted in three parts, clue #2, Hoshi/Narcho, but dead giveaway, as kappamaki33 said when she betaed it, was as soon as Narcho opened his mouth. That was most definitely my Narcho. (As proved by the hell of a time I had restraining him and Hoshi. They were trying to convince me to title the fic "Fowler's Five Stages of Faith and How They Relate to Your Sexual Identity Crisis", by Louis Hoshi (with commentary by his extremely well-hung and incredible frak of a lover, Noel Allison). It took a bit to convince them that a.) the title needs to be shorter than the fic, and b.) THEY AREN'T THE MAIN CHARACTERS. Honestly. The only reason that I got out of it was that Racetrack distracted them with booze.

This was a fascinating one to remix, because trovia's How to Live and Love is an absolute classic and is so well written. And it's all Gaeta POV, which makes a POV switch very compelling. But what really makes this fic beg for a remix was the letter. If the letter had a transcription of what Brendan had said in the infirmary, I wouldn't have been as desperate for a remix. But the fact that Brendan was interested in Felix long before he showed up at the infirmary... that was what was begging for a remix for me. I mean, it was completely plausible, because even a happy, well-adjusted Felix would have been clueless, and a frakked up, angry Felix would be beyond clueless. But that's what made it so interesting.

The other fic I remixed was a last minute pinch hit where the pinch hit author did end up coming through, and that was I'm Not a Princess (The Fairytale Remix), which was a remix of lorrainemarker's micro mini "Gaeta Through Hera's Eyes". Again, I guess the clues were there big time, although not intentional. One was Hera reading Raptor manuals as story books, which I've written before. The other was the Taylor Swift lyric for the title. What IS it with me and Taylor Swift and Gaeta? But a few people definitely guessed it was me, so I guess my fingerprints were on it :)

What's funny is I started remixing another fic- Smoking, which was a Cottle/Gaeta fic. But I just wasn't feeling it, especially since the Cottle fic already posted kicked ass, and I was NOT hearing Cottle. Also, it was too similar to themes I'd worked with in Here On the Hill, Halfway Up, Halfway Down, and Every Man Must Choose His Way. So at the last minute I scrapped it and went for the Hera-Gaeta, and I'm glad I did. I was happy with that fic. Since I'll never actually finish the Gaeta-Cottle one (I was going to make it gen),

Title:
Characters: Sherman Cottle, Felix Gaeta
Summary:

Smoking by lorrainemarker



It was a dark and stormy night.

Well, no. It wasn't. But as far as Sherman Cottle was concerned, it damn well should have been. There should have been thunder, there should have been rain, and there should have been wind howling and lightning crashing between the damp earth and the stormy clouds. But instead, the settlement of New Caprica was covered with an eerie silence, punctuated by the occasional sound of gunfire.

Centurions made noise when they walked, but Cottle couldn't hear them at all.

He flipped aside the flap the entrance to his living quarters, staring out and wishing he couldn't see. There should be an influx of patients, but there was nothing. Baltar had surrendered, and Cottle had to admit that he could see the logic in that move. Without the Fleet- frak it, even with the damn Fleet- they didn't stand a chance. Resistance meant death for them all, and as much as it galled Cottle to admit it, that frak Baltar was right.

He closed the tent flap and closed his eyes. His back was hurting, and his knees were complaining about the cold. He was debating doing something about it when he heard a rustling out in the main medical tent. Frowning, he hustled out to stop the intruder, reminding himself that the Cylons wouldn't be this quiet.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, sir."

Sir. Cottle could only thing of one man who would still insist on calling him sir. He yanked the chain, and the light bulb above him flared into luminescence. "What are you doing here, Felix?" he asked when the young man jerked away, shielding his eyes.

"Nothing. I… I just needed something." Gaeta shifted guiltily, not looking Cottle in the eye.

"Be specific," Cottle said.

Gaeta picked up a tongue depressor and studied it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. "I've been meaning to get down here for a long while now," he admitted. "I just couldn't… I couldn't quite bring myself to admit it."

Cottle rustled up a gown and tossed it to Gaeta. "Take your clothes off and put that on," he said. "I'll go get your chart."

When he returned, chart and medication in hand, Gaeta was sitting on examination table, fidgeting with the worn gown. He didn't look up, even as Cottle began the examination. Of course, he didn't really need to. Cottle had a damn good idea what he was meant to be looking for.

"Hell of a day," he said, listening to Gaeta's lungs.

"Understatement," Gaeta said dryly. He was silent for a long moment, then said, "They took Tom Zarek away."

"I heard." Cottle moved around to the front. "Surprised they didn't take you away."

"They should have," Gaeta said dully.

"Probably," Cottle agreed. "Lay back," he said, after listening to heart and lungs. He began to press on Gaeta's abdomen. "Course, you'd likely be dead."

Gaeta shrugged. "Maybe I will be, anyway." He closed his eyes as Cottle finished.

"You might be," Cottle agreed. "Though you mind telling me why you decided to come down on the day of an invasion to be diagnosed with syphilis?"

"You know already?" Gaeta wasn't surprised.

"Gave Baltar the treatment two months ago. He was supposed to tell anyone he'd slept with."

Gaeta didn't answer. He just lay there and let Cottle confirm what he'd suspected for months. "Is there anyone else that should know?" Cottle finally asked.

For a long time, Gaeta didn't answer, and Cottle wondered if there was someone, although he hadn't heard any rumors. Then Gaeta sat up, rubbed his forehead and said, "There's a Six."

"A Six?" The words made no sense in the context.

"When the Cylons came in to his office. There's a Six. And when he looked at her… I knew." Gaeta didn't look up. "I mean, who the frak cares, right? On a day like today, who cares who Gaius Baltar fraks? And I didn't- not then. All I could see was what he was doing, and who he was giving us to. I couldn't believe…." He shook his head. "But tonight… he's with her. And I finally thought I should come… It's ridiculous."

And yet, it made complete sense. Cottle sighed, and began to clean a site on Gaeta's arm. He injected the medicine, watching as Gaeta winced. "Always stings to have your eyes opened," he muttered. Gaeta flushed, and Cottle smirked. He pulled the syringe out, bandaged the site, tossed the needle into the sharps bin, and lit a cigarette. Gaeta raised his eyebrows and then pulled out one of his own from the pants that were neatly folded on the table. Cottle thought he should chase him out, but for some reason, he couldn't.

They smoked together in silence, until they heard the sounds of a Centurion patrol outside. Gaeta looked away first, and Cottle sighed heavily.

"I'd better get home," Gaeta said.

"Come back in a week," Cottle said. "You need a pretty intense course of antibiotics." Gaeta nodded, and Cottle rummaged through a drawer. "And put this on the sores," he said, pressing the tube into Gaeta's hand. "If it gets worse, come back earlier."

"Yes, sir."

"Now get out of here."

There was a ghost of a smile on Gaeta's face. "Yes, sir."

***

One week later, Gaeta slipped in late at night again, and this time, Cottle was expecting him.

"I didn't want…" Gaeta began.

"Didn't want people to know?" Cottle asked, tossing Gaeta a gown.

Gaeta flushed. "No. Well, yes. But that wasn't…" he sighed, and began to undress before Cottle could leave the room. "That wasn't my intention. I was thinking more that… well, I'm not exactly the most popular person in New Caprica."

"An understatement," Cottle agreed. Gaeta folded his clothing neatly and then put the gown on. "But you would have been safe enough."

Gaeta didn't answer that.

"Turn around," Cottle ordered. Gaeta obeyed, and Cottle had to admit he was glad not to see the kid's face as he asked, "Regretting your decision yet?"

"I'm not in detention," Gaeta pointed out in a glum sort of way.

"That wasn't an answer," Cottle said. He realized, suddenly, that he had hope. The Old Man had run, and maybe he would be back. But Cottle didn't hold out much faith in conventional weapons and attacks - the Cylons were too strong for that. But he looked at Gaeta, the slump in the shoulders and the way his head was bowed, and he shook his head. Gaeta was a kid, and a scared kid at that. He wasn't the hero that they needed. And if he was honest, Cottle didn't think any one person could be the hero that they needed.

He finished his exam and Gaeta smirked. "Will you take it wrong if I have a cigarette now?"

Despite himself, Cottle's mouth twitched up a little. "You're sick."

"That's why I'm here."

"Funny. Go ahead. I was going to have one myself." He pulled his own out and lit it before he gave Gaeta his injection, and Gaeta found his own from the pocket of his jacket. Once again, he didn't seem in a hurry to leave.

"They call her Caprica," Gaeta said suddenly. "Because of the work she did on Caprica. It's an honor."

Cottle inhaled deeply. "You see much of Boomer?"

Gaeta shook his head. "I think she avoids me. I'm glad. I was in the CIC when she shot the Admiral. I know she didn't know what she was doing. But it doesn't matter."

The memory of Adama in front of him clinging to life with a tenacity of will was strong in Cottle's mind, too. He nodded.

"He slept with her on Caprica," Gaeta said quietly. For a wild moment, Cottle thought that the kid meant Adama slept with Boomer on Caprica, and then the pieces went back to Baltar and the Six. He grunted, and Felix snorted. "You know," he said, studying the end of his cigarette, "it makes me think of that Shelly Godfrey and the disc she had. The one where she had evidence of Baltar taking down the mainframe."

"I thought that was a fake," Cottle said.

"Oh, it was." Gaeta waved his hand. "There's no question about that. But it makes me wonder if Gaius did know something before the attacks." He looked at Cottle, suddenly uncertain. "Would you believe that he had?"

Cottle inhaled deeply, thinking about the question. It was a tough one. "Don't know," he finally said. "Don't think we're ever going to find out."

"Yeah," Gaeta agreed. "Can't trust anything either he or the Cylons say." He finished his cigarette. "Am I set?"

"I need to see you next week."

"All right."

Cottle pulled out another cigarette. "You going to come by night again?"

"If that's all right."

"As long as you don't come at an unreasonable hour."

"I won't." Gaeta bit his lip. "I don't want to get you in trouble with the Cylons anyway."

Cottle grunted. "All right," he said. "Get out of here, then." He left before Gaeta could say yes, sir.

***

Gaeta had been a good kid. Cottle knew that. He remembered it on the day of the invasion and he remembered it a week later, when he gave him the follow-up injection. But between the first follow-up and the second, he treated four rapes, seven children, sixteen gunshot wounds, and helped arrange for care for two orphans. When Felix Gaeta showed up that night without renouncing the government, Cottle had nothing to say to him.

It didn't seem to matter. Gaeta didn't meet his eyes, and he didn't linger after his examination and subsequent shot. And Cottle was just as glad to see the back of him.

Gaeta might not support the Cylons, but he wasn't fighting them either, and right now, that pretty much meant the same thing.

***

"This is the last one. After this, you just need to report back to me for blood tests." Cottle injected the medicine smoothly into Gaeta's bicep.

"All right." Gaeta was staring down at his lap.

"How do you do it?" The words nearly exploded out of him.

Gaeta looked up. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Don't sir me. You were an officer on the Galactica."

"So were you," Gaeta pointed out.

Cottle's brows furrowed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You treat Cylons. I know you do."





And yeah. That's where I stopped. See what I mean? I just wasn't feeling it.

Anyway, bsg_remix went extremely well this year, and thanks both to all the writers and readers who participated, and most especially to rose_griffes, who is such an AWESOME co-mod. The whole thing went very well, and I'm so glad people enjoyed themselves.

I might post the 25 word fic meme that's going around tonight, or maybe tomorrow. I apologize in advance for the spam.