A/N: Originally this was going to be a one-shot, but i felt it was better to break it up into 2 or 3 chapters.
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"I don't even know how you sit down!" a voice echoed across the room.
"What the hell are you yelling about, Starbuck?" someone replied.
Starbuck smirked and said "what with that stick so far up your ass, I'm surprised you can even sit." Apollo's eyes burned as he searched for a suitable comeback, but all he could think of was a swift upper cut to her jaw.
Starbuck's smirk widened when she realized he wasn't going to say anything. She had won again.
"You're confined to the hack, Starbuck," he informed her. She shook her head in disgust. "That's all you can come up with?" she asked. "That's pathetic. You can't even face me like a real man, you have to banish me." She smiled and threw the tools she had been using on the ground before heading towards the hack.
3 hours later
"You know, I could really use some cards and maybe some ambrosia if it's not too much trouble," Starbuck told a bewildered guard. He was obviously new and didn't know who she was. He glanced around nervously and swallowed a few times before speaking. "I don…" he cleared his throat. "I'm not allowed to give you that," he responded, not meeting her eyes.
"Oh come on, be a good man," she chided him. "No one will know but us."
"I will," a voice said from the doorway. Starbuck scrambled upright and saluted. "Commander." She said to Adama.
"You're released," he informed her as he motioned to the guard to unlock her cell.
Bunkroom, ½ hour later
Starbuck was clad only in her underwear and sprawled across her bed, puffing a cigar when he XO's voice echoed around the ship.
"This is the XO. Set condition 1 around the ship. We have incoming." Starbuck scrambled from the bed and dressed as she sprinted towards the flight deck, tripping and cursing as she went. When she got there, her bird wasn't ready to go.
"Why the frak is my Viper not ready for combat?" she shouted at no one particular. Cally answered her w/ a puzzled look on her face.
"Captain Adam said you were grounded, sir," she told Starbuck. "We were told not to prep it."
"What?" Starbuck growled, steam practically coming out of her ears. "Look Cally. I don't give a flyin' frak what he said. I need to go up, now." Cally shook her head. "Sorry, sir. I wish I could, but he specifically said no."
"This is the XO. Set condition 3 around the ship, we have victory. I repeat, the cylons are gone." The flight deck resounded with cheers as Starbuck paced the floor, impatiently waiting for Apollo to arrive.
Apollo exited his Viper amidst cheering and applause. Every face was smiling, until he saw Starbuck. 'Oh gods, here we go again' he thought to himself. He started towards her at a slow pace, not eager for the sparring match that was coming.
"What the frak do you think you were doing, grounding me?" Starbuck demanded.
"You were out of sorts and obviously unstable. I felt it best that you weren't in the air," Apollo responded calmly.
"Unstable?" she asked. When did you get to decided how I'm feeling?"
"When I became your senior officer, that's when," he told her, his voice rising in volume as he became more agitated.
"Oh, excuse me Captain, sir," she said nastily. "But you could have used me out there. How many did we lose? Huh?" she nodded at the look on his face. "I thought so," she commented. "I should have been out there."
"What exactly are you insinuating, Lieutenant?" Apollo asked as he took a step forward.
"Maybe, just maybe, we wouldn't have lost so many if you hadn't been so selfish and grounded me!" she replied hotly. She had no time to duck, she didn't even see it coming but she sure as hell felt the fist that landed on her right cheek. Her arm came up without a thought and retaliated with a punch to his nose, causing it to spout blood instantly. They both dimly felt arms lock around them and drag them apart before the deck fell silent.
"What's going on here?" the Commander asked. No one replied.
"Starbuck, Apollo, care to comment?" he asked again. They didn't answer, just glared at different spots on the wall.
"Guards, get these two. They're going to the hack," he commanded them.
The Hack
Apollo walked calmly into the cell while Starbuck's feet dragged as she was forced into the same one. Adama and the guards ignored their protests and silenced them with a wave of his hand.
"Enough," he commanded, glaring at the both of them. "Your behavior is inexcusable. I'm confining you two to the hack until further notice. When I come back there better be either 2 friends or 2 bodies, am I clear? You have 24 hours." As he left, he motioned for the guards to follow him.
"Stay out here until I come back, don't open that door for anyone, understand?" he asked. The guards nodded their heads in confirmation and took their posts by the door.