Title: Through the Bars

Author: Kathea

Pairing: Apollo/Starbuck

Rating: K or PG13, cause I don't understand the new system.

Summary: Slightly AU, post KLG2, Starbuck is back, Apollo is in the hack and gets a cell mate. FYI, Roslin is NOT in hack. Just an idea of what could happen, characters feelings. BTW, Lee will probably seem OOC but chalk it up to see his father get shot. One-shot.

Genre: Definitely romance but also pathos, which calls angst.

AN: I read a really cool posting by another fan author who explained the difference between pathos and angst which most people confuse. Angst really means anxiety or worry. Pathos is deeper and I hope I reach that in my story.

AN2: Does anybody ever go back and reread their own stories and just shiver at how good they are? I just reread "Choke" and got all giddy cause I liked it so much and I even knew how it ended.

On with the show…

I was existing, barely. My muscles were so tightly wound with the desire to get out that I thought I'd snap my own bones. The lights were too bright, the cot too hard, noises too loud, and the sound of my heart beating a rapid rhythm reminded me that while I was alive, my father was on an operating table in Life Station. A calm and collected voice in my head said that this was only shock and it would eventually wear off but I had stopped listening because the universe had slammed to a halt.

Breath rushed from my lungs when a struggling Starbuck was escorted into the brig. Thank the Lords, she's alive, was all my incoherent mind could process. How could I have forgotten that she had jumped home? I watched, detached, as Tigh pushed her roughly into the cell next to mine. She yelled some obscenity at him as he walked out. Spinning quickly on her heel, Starbuck dropped herself onto the cot before looking through the bars at me. She was surprised, I could tell.

"Well, well, if it isn't the great and mighty Apollo, locked up. Never thought I would see the day." Kara said bitterly.

Somehow I forced my mouth to frame a suitably insulting response and the conversation quickly escalated from there. I don't really remember what we said to each other. I'm sure I mentioned her sleeping with the Vice President, which was probably not my wisest moment but then again pulling a gun on Tigh wouldn't count either. When we were no speaking at normal levels but yelling inarticulately at each other, my brain decided to give up for me. With my invisible white flag waving, I sat heavily on the cot and let my head rest against the hard metal wall behind me.

Thankfully, Kara shut up quickly, probably surprised by my sudden withdrawal from combat. "What the frak is wrong with you, Adama?" Kara growled from her position at the bars.

"Boomer shot my dad. She's a cylon." I all but whispered. I heard the sharp intake of breath and the sound of her knees hitting the floor.

"Is he?" She asked, trailing off knowing I would understand.

"He was in Life Station, last I saw him, and they haven't come to tell me any news. I assume he's still with us."

"The bastard wouldn't let you stay with him?" Kara questioned, her anger at Tigh boiling up again.

"No. Proper course of action for an officer threatening the life of his superior is to immediately escort them to the brig."

"What in the world did you do?"

"I pulled a gun on him as he was trying to arrest the President."

"I should've stayed on Caprica." Kara said glumly, resting her head on the bars.

"Kara?" I said hesitantly. Her eyes came up and caught mine quickly. "I would've missed you." She reached a tentative hand through the bars and I rolled myself off the cot to the floor in front of her. I gripped her hand like it was a lifeline, hell it was a lifeline. I bowed my head until it was resting against our joined hands. I felt her hand brush over my head and cup my neck. Squeeze and release, squeeze and release, her fingers battled with the tension I had stored there.

Tears I had furiously held back fell from my eyes and washed over our hands. Distantly I heard her murmuring my name. I had always wondered what it would be like to receive all of Kara's attention. I know now why Zak loved her. Sometimes she was like a nuclear blast and others a soft breeze. It was enough to keep a man constantly confused. How she could know what I needed right this minute, I'll never know.

A gentle hand, titled my face up towards the light. "Lee." Her voice called. "Lee, look at me." I wanted to look at her, so badly I wanted too. I couldn't though. I couldn't open my eyes and let her see everything I couldn't say to her. She would see it the second I did. Her fingertips brushed over my cheek and down the side of my face. I didn't want to but I leaned into her touch. It was so nice to rest here. A little imagination removed the bars and I was gathered close to her. I sighed contentedly in my dream world. It was misty but I could see her eyes and her smile as she leaned close to kiss me. It was gentle and sweet.

The cold bars pressing against my face jerked me back to reality. She was still kissing me though. Her hands held my face tightly not letting me pull away. It wasn't gentle anymore either. This wasn't comfort she was giving. When Kara pulled away to take a breath of air, I opened my eyes and she saw. She saw everything. Strangely enough I could see her too.

Her hand was shaking when she reached to touch my face again. She looked like she had never seen me before, maybe she never had. I reached for her hand and turned it over to drop a kiss in it. Kara grinned this cheeky little grin before moving to settle back against her cot. I quickly copied her moves so as to not lose contact. I had never been this needy and Kara had never been this giving.

Through the bars Kara held my hand tightly. The fog started to lift as Kara unconsciously ran her thumb over the top of my hand. The enormity of all the situations settled firmly on my shoulders. I looked over at Kara as she leaned back, her eyes closed against the harsh lights.

"Hey Starbuck?"

"Yeah, Apollo?"

"I'm glad you made it back."

"It's good to be home."

THE END

Not my usual stuff and short, I know. Any reviews will be answered on my homepage.